


The Queen of Nightmares

by Sephirotha



Series: Chronicles of Ethylias [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Apocalypse, Demons, Fantasy, Gen, Hybrids, Saving the World, Sorceresses, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-07
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2017-12-31 19:31:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 38
Words: 121,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1035539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephirotha/pseuds/Sephirotha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A mysterious force called the Nightmare Blanket has consumed the planet Ethylias.  After being separated from her family, Amber stands up to the Nightmare Queen, determined to fight for the freedom of the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mysterious Woman

Amber Ruby Garnet Caelum had always tried very hard to make sure that her life lasted as long, as lasting and as enjoyable as it possibly could. It wasn’t an easy task, considering the hostile environment that she had to live in with the other residents of their small village in the middle of a desert. Then there were the ridiculously tall soldiers in their large bulky black armour patrolling through and around her home village. They kept on giving messages from the Queen to leave their homes and join her forces, to become her minions for conquering the universe and beyond. Amber was targeted very often since her father trained her well as an assassin. Days were hard to keep track of since the Nightmare Blanket spread over the atmosphere and sent the world into a horrendous environment, making it hard for all creatures to survive, no matter their adaptation to their environment or their resistance to diseases. It had been such a beautiful world, why anyone wanted to ruin it was beyond Amber’s understanding.  
Amber was a very skinny young lady with very pale sickly skin from lack of self-care, slightly sunken eyes from lack of drinking water and aching bones, only able to eat and drink what she could salvage from maiming and seriously injuring small armies of soldiers, Abnormal creatures and other monsters created by the Nightmare Blanket that came to the village. Other villagers would immediately swarm her once the last man that she was fighting was down, unconscious. There was a rare occasion when anything ever died, it depended on how desperate the villagers were when they scavenged. Hardly anyone in the village was even strong enough to kill anything. Amber only had little time to rummage through their things quickly and take what she could before she was left with very little or nothing. Bandages covered her body nearly entirely, seeming as health education and knowledge was hard to come by nowadays. Amber managed to get by though, somehow, despite what the villagers kept on saying about her survival chance. Exchanging money with nearby travellers for food and water was her only way in surviving this living nightmare.  
Amber refused to have any part of the Queen’s forces since the soldiers asked her peacefully when they first met her because she only wished for her skills to be used for the good of the universe, not to conquer it. If she had the strength, she would cross over the mountains, through the dead forest on the other side and across the wasteland where the Queen’s tower stood to kill the Queen. Amber remembered the first day when the Nightmare Blanket invaded the skies the Queen’s speech echoed out through the entire world. She invited any knights, heroes, anyone who could fight to come and battle her. Most of the men from the village, including her father, left to battle her and Amber never saw any of them again. She would have gone with them to help but she wished to stay behind in case anything tried to attack the village. None of the men came back and Amber grew weaker with every soldier she cut down. Her mother and younger brother had been dragged off by soldiers on the seventh night and Amber never saw them again. She often cursed her small weak body that she was unable to go out of the village and search for her lost family or go to the Queen’s tower to confront her. No-one in the village even offered to help her across the desert, it was too dangerous for anyone.  
Amber couldn’t really understand why the Queen wanted a young girl like her in her army. She was only fourteen after all and in the middle of assassin training. She wasn’t very good army material nor was she good in a team, she was more suited to working alone and off the battlefield, like her father. But Amber isn’t even ready to be an assassin yet, yet alone ready enough to be on the battlefield. She wasn’t even healthy enough to fight, she can’t even kill a small mouse to eat for breakfast. That mouse eventually died of malnutrition and Amber consumed it after giving it a quick funeral out of respect. When she politely declined the offer, the soldiers began to get more aggressive, trying to drag her out of the village or render her unconscious to take her to the Queen. Amber’s friends had tried to help her multiple times, each time was successful but at a cost. The graveyard was beginning to grow more, some graves with no headstones due to lack of resources. Amber had lost two dear friends to angels who escorted their souls into Heaven. She had lost more friends whose families had decided to leave the village in the hopes of finding a safer environment. Amber had no friends anymore to be with. She was alone now.  
Amber had cried herself to sleep secretly when she failed to stop the soldiers from taking her mother and brother away. She remembered lying in the dusty streets, bloodied and too weak to even move a finger. She could do nothing with her injuries but watch her family be taken away from her. When some of the local children and her friends took her home to bandage her wounds together awkwardly, Amber never forgave herself for letting those soldiers grab her mother and drag her off like a rag doll. Amber loved her mother dearly, more than anything else in the world. She couldn’t have possibly bared the idea of being away from her beloved mother before the Nightmare Blanket came. Now, with her mother long gone, Amber was in agony with worry for her mother’s health. Her father would be the same, agonizing over if she was alright or not. Crystal Caelum was the most beautiful and wonderful woman in the village. She was a peacemaker, she always had a smile on her face and never fought against anything. Not even in self-defence. Amber had never met an angel, but she definitely knew that her mother was the equivalent of one. Her mother was rather modest too, no matter what Amber said to praise her virtue. Without her mother, Amber truly felt that all hope in the world had vanished.  
Oh, and where could she start on her beloved little brother? Her little brother that was only twelve years old. Amber absolutely adored Jasper, despite the odd one or two arguments. Jasper was very shy, he hardly socialised with any of the other children and Amber had to literally drag him out of the house to get him to soak in some sun. If there was anyone who had paler skin than Amber, it was little shy Jasper. The reason why the children had pale skin instead of a natural tan was because Crystal personally said that they were unattractive and Amber began to think the same when she began comparing her tan to her normal skin colour. Jasper just didn’t like going out of the house so rarely got any sun on his skin. Amber beat herself up the most when she saw him being tossed over a large shoulder and carried off, away from the village. Amber never dared step out of the village and into the desert, even though she knew that was the only way to try and find her mother and Jasper. But with her injuries, Amber was unfit to travel alone.  
She was suffering from staying in the village too. Because of the Nightmare Blanket, more and more sandstorms had been hitting the village and leaving the area buried in sand constantly. Efforts to clean up the village long died out so the whole place was a complete mess. It’s pretty nasty for the village because it attracts deadly poisonous snakes and all kinds of other threats. Amber had been bitten a few times whenever she found a snake in her home but she knew how to suck poison out of wounds so she only made sure to be bitten in the places where her mouth could reach. At least that gave her a higher chance in surviving through the nightmare. Even if it was hopeless, Amber just lived, waiting for her father to return home.  
Amber never had many friends that were adults in the village. She was a very reserved person, always wanting to be with people her age and afraid of anyone that was ten years older than her and not related to her. Because of this, the adults never liked her back or even made the effort to get to know her. Especially since she often caused mischief when she was playing with her friends or if she was in the middle of assassin training. Then everything began to go sour for Amber and the rest of the village when one adult came up to her and said that she may not live much longer and her father may not be coming back. Amber was furious and she punched the man who had approached her, breaking his nose on purpose, then went up to her room to cry. She couldn’t stand it when people told her what may or may not happen. It was irritating and rather boring when someone keeps on telling you the same things over and over. Amber chose to ignore them eventually and when she began to ignore them, they began saying that she was living in denial. It was very irritating.  
It was on one blistering hot day, when Amber heard the Outlandish Vultures attack the village, that things began to go differently for her and her luck. She ran out with her old whip and charged towards the large skinny creatures as they circled the local young children playing in the dusty streets. She hollered out loudly in her hoarse voice to make them take heed of her warning and run off, back into their ruined homes for safety. Amber roped the Outlandish Vultures together to restrain them as people scurried out of their barren houses and huts to kill the bloodthirsty and rabid monsters. But her whip stretched and snapped from its overuse the lack of care Amber was able to give it. Amber could only watch with a horrified expression as they took off, snapping their beaks angrily and dived for her. She raised her arms and prepared for the sharp beaks to tear her apart and eat her flesh. But they never came. What Amber felt instead was cold wet blood splattered onto her dry cracked skin. Opening her amber coloured eyes slowly, Amber lowered her arms warily and stared blankly with a slack jaw at the decapitated vultures in front of her. Blinking in confusion, Amber slowly lifted her head up and saw a woman with blood dripping off her curved black blades. With blood red eyes, she turned her head to Amber and grimaced. Amber scowled in disgust as she shook her arms out to get rid of the black blood that was splattered all over them.  
‘Sorry about that, little one,’ the woman said as she placed the blades in her sheaths on her belt ‘At least you are unharmed. I suppose that is the main concern instead of your health after all. Here, let me just get that for you…’ She gently brushed the blood off Amber’s face and arms then delved into one of her pockets. Amber studied her curiously, from her long matted black hair, to her pale skin and to her blood red eyes that glowed brightly. The woman pulled a crumpled photo out of a young girl with shoulder-length pale violet hair and blood red eyes like hers. She looked no older than the age of twelve and her face held a nasty scowl towards the camera.  
‘Have you seen my only granddaughter, Vienna?’ the mysterious woman asked with a somewhat pleading expression ‘She can turn into a wolf, about half my size, with lilac fur and is about twice my size if she came in her feral form.’ Amber studied the picture carefully with narrowed eyes then shook her head. The woman sighed exhaustedly and put it away. ‘Do you know the way to the Queen’s tower by any chance?’ she asked ‘She’s been trying to get there and I’m trying to stop her and bring her back home.’ Amber’s eyes widened. She paused, closing her eyes and picturing a rough map around the area which she knew about.  
‘At the moment, it’s a long and harsh journey to get over to the tower that everyone wishes to get to,’ she explained and pointed to the landscape that surrounded the village ‘There’s the mountain range to cross over and if my geographical knowledge is correct, on the opposite side to where Vigour Village is, there is the dead forest to get through on the other side and then the brutal wasteland to cross which stretches for hundreds of miles. I don’t think it’s possible that a girl this young could possibly survive despite what she may be because for one, there is no source of water that she could freely drink from and there is little life that she could hunt if she’s a werewolf.’  
‘Vienna is a formidable young lady,’ the woman cut in curtly with a proud smile ‘Like yourself, young one. I’ve heard of you, you must be Crystal’s daughter, Amber, is that correct?’   
Amber’s whole body perked up as if an electric current had just flowed through her and gave her some life. It had been a while since she heard her mother’s name. It had been four long months since the Queen’s Nightmare Blanket took over the atmosphere and her family was forcibly taken away from her. Amber barely even remembered what they looked like. But when Amber heard her mother’s name, she immediately remembered what her mother looked like from her short silver hair to her tiny pale feet.  
‘Do you know my mother?’ she asked quietly in wonder with wide eyes ‘Do you know Crystal Caelum?’ The woman nodded once.  
‘She was brought to what’s left of my home town,’ she explained ‘I’m one of the better-off people and I bought her when I saw how she was treated. She was the only woman on offer. She got lucky too, I was nearly out of money when I was trying to outbid all the men who wanted to have her.’  
‘What about Jasper?!’ Amber’s voice became louder as she abruptly interrupted her ‘Jasper, my little brother? He’s about twelve now and he’s got short silver hair with bright green eyes and extremely pale skin, please tell me you’ve got him too! Please tell me that you bought my little brother along with my mother too!’   
She clung onto the woman’s smooth black cloak tightly, staring up at her with wide eyes. Amber just had to know if her precious little brother was alright, since she let those soldier brutes take him and her mother away. The woman gave her a sad look and sighed, patting Amber’s head gently.  
‘I’m afraid there was no boy of that description,’ she said forlornly ‘Crystal told me that your little brother was sold off to another family in what’s left of the city that they had been previously.’ Amber’s face fell at the information and tears brimmed her eyes.   
‘No way…’ she whispered in disbelief. She bowed her head and covered her face, trying to compose herself so she wouldn’t look like so much of a mess. When the woman put a comforting arm around her, she collapsed into her embrace, hugging her tightly to hide her tears from the world.  
‘My name is Xeann Murphy,’ the woman introduced herself and patted Amber’s soft silver and blue locks comfortingly ‘I’m just passing through this village to retrieve my troublesome runaway granddaughter. I’m truly sorry I can’t be of much help to you, I really am.’ Amber looked up and frowned curiously. This woman looked awfully young to be a mother, let alone a grandmother. With a kind and warm smile, Xeann brushed back her long sleek ebony hair back into her hood. ‘Is there a shop anywhere where I can restock my items?’ Amber shook her head grimly.  
‘This village has no contact whatsoever with the outside world,’ she explained with a sigh ‘We can only salvage from the Nightmare Blanket’s monsters, Abnormal creatures and soldiers that come by here every day. We can only drink blood or water that the soldiers bring and we can only eat their flesh if we can manage to kill them. We’re desperate here because money means nothing here anymore.’ She sagged her shoulders and sniffed. ‘We can’t even afford for a professional scavenger to help us find something that would do us some good.’ Xeann looked down at Amber forlornly.  
‘Such horror fills these lands,’ she murmured as she looked out at the desert that surrounded the village ‘Is that what the Queen really wants…?’  
‘Take me with you.’ Xeann looked down as Amber tugged at her belt. ‘I want to go to the Queen’s tower,’ she said ‘My father went to fight her but he never returned and I want to look for him now. I’m worried for him, even though I shouldn’t but I haven’t seen him in months. Please, I promise I won’t be a burden…’  
‘No.’ Xeann placed a hand on Amber’s head and sighed forlornly. ‘It’s too dangerous for you,’ she explained ‘The Queen is merciless and I’m only pursuing my granddaughter.’  
‘But I want to come with you!’ Amber pleaded ‘Please, I’ll only go as far as when you find your granddaughter and then I’ll cope on my own! I won’t slow you down and I won’t get in the way in anything, I promise!’ Xeann sighed and pulled away from Amber’s grip.  
‘You may follow me for a while but that’s all I can offer,’ she compromised after staring at her for a few long moments and Amber’s pale face lit up hopefully, making her smile softly ‘Crystal has told me that you have a strong heart and determined soul but I don’t know if you’re in any condition to travel considering what has been happening for the past few months…’  
‘I’ll keep up with you as much as I can!’ Amber stood up straight, despite how much her body protested ‘I honestly won’t be a burden, I promise! I can take care on any Abnormal creatures on my own and I’ll deal with any personal problems to avoid slowing you down at all.’ Xeann sighed as she stared up at the mountains. After a while, she looked back to Amber.  
‘You can come with me to the village by the mountains,’ she said with a nod ‘I know that they should have the right amount of medical supplies there so you can rest and recover more than here.’ Amber’s eyes lit up and she hugged Xeann as tight as she could.  
‘Oh thank you!’ she exclaimed ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you!’ She pulled away.  
‘Wait here, I just need to go and get the supplies I’ll need!’ she said before turning and running into the small ruined hut at the end of the street.   
Xeann smiled sadly, as if she was going to cry, while she watched Amber’s frail figure disappear from sight and looked around the dusty dry village in dismay. She was sure that just last year, it would have been bustling with so many people and much more colourful. The well that stood a few yards away from her must have been flowing with water for the villagers and tourists and there would have been lots of laughter in the air as the children played along the dusty streets. But ever since the Queen rose to power and released the dreadful Nightmare Blanket, Xeann had not heard a single child’s laugh or any signs of happiness in children. Not even a little fake or weak one. Being a very experienced and dedicated mother herself, the fact that children were not as happy and healthy as they should be during the early stages of their lives saddened her greatly. When Amber came running back out with nothing more than a small dagger in its sheath and a small cloth wrapped in a bundle, Xeann saw how Amber’s state of health will hinder her progress in finding Vienna. The poor girl was only fourteen and she seemed to be pushing her limits too much. Xeann considered picking her up and carrying her across the desert but then reconsidered, seeing that Amber was determined to get through by herself.  
‘I’m ready,’ Amber said as she stopped in front of her ‘Shall we go?’ Xeann smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
‘Shout if you feel like you’re falling behind,’ she said in a motherly tone ‘I will carry you across this desert if I have to.’   
Amber nodded and took one last look around the village, a bit hesitant to leave it behind, before following the vampire out into the desert. Xeann pulled her hood over her face more as Amber hobbled after her with only her bandages and tattered shorts covering her body. Realising that Amber would be cold during the night time, which was approaching rather fast, Xeann took off her cloak and placed it around Amber, simpering when the heavy weight made the young girl stumble. Amber looked up at Xeann in her ethereal beauty.  
‘But don’t you need it?’ she asked ‘It is your cloak after all…’ Xeann shook her head.  
‘You need it more than I do, little one,’ she said ‘You’re younger than me, therefore you need it more.’  
‘I’m not that little!’ Amber argued with a scowl ‘I was the third tallest out of my friends before the Nightmare Blanket came.’ Xeann’s lips quirked into a smile at Amber’s reaction.  
‘Compared to me, you most certainly are, little one,’ she said with a soft titter, placing a hand on Amber’s head as if to prove a point and stalking off in her black leather high heel boots across the sand dunes ‘You know, I’m pretty sure that without my high heels, I’d still be taller than you.’ Amber pouted sulkily and hunched her shoulders moodily with an unattractive scowl as she turned and gave her a coy wink with a smirk. ‘Well, come on then, little Amber. Without dallying or dallying, we should be able to reach Vigour Village by dawn if we continue to walk across the desert like this.’   
Amber stared at her high heel boots oddly with a curious face, wondering how they weren’t sinking into the baking hot sand before running up to catch up with her, her petite bare and bloody feet leaving small prints alongside Xeann’s. She paused suddenly and frowned before looking up at Xeann.  
‘Wait,’ she said and grabbed her hand, pulling gently ‘I want to say goodbye to my friends first. It won’t take long, I promise.’ Xeann paused and looked down at her curiously before smiling and nodding.  
‘Alright then, lead the way,’ she said with a curious tilt of the head ‘I suppose they deserve to know where you’re going at a time like this.’   
Amber grimaced and led her to the graveyard that was north of the village. There was a wooden fence surrounding it, worn out from all the sandstorms and creatures attacking it to try and get in. Only three quarters of the space had headstones for the different bodies that were buried in the sand. When Xeann recognized the ill-made gravestones, she covered her mouth in horror as she realised that Amber’s friends were dead. Amber smiled grimly as she looked up at her.  
‘It’s not that bad, at least they’re at peace,’ she consoled the woman as tears welled up in her blood red eyes.  
‘Amber, how old were your friends before…?’ Xeann’s throat seemed to close up at the mention of children dying. Amber sighed forlornly and bowed her head, hunching her shoulders sadly.  
‘Well, Sabrina was eighteen and Abigail was seven,’ she murmured, enticing an agonised gasp from Xeann.  
‘Children?’ she rasped in horror as they stopped at one end of a row of small gravestones. Amber nodded.  
‘Sabrina was a sorceress, very intelligent and hardworking, while little Abigail was a tame harpy, hoping to fly one day,’ she nodded to the respected spots ‘They were close friends and both of them gave up their lives to save me. Both of their deaths were horrible and undeserved but pretty painless thank goodness. I can’t be more grateful to them than to grant their last wishes and stay alive…’ Abigail’s spot lacked a gravestone so instead her name was written on some cloth and weighed down by a small rock. Xeann took in a sharp breath and Amber turned her head, grimacing when she saw a large hole that could easily fit a body in. Her name was marked beside it.  
‘Amber, what’s the meaning of this?’ Xeann demanded fiercely turning her fiery gaze at her. Amber sighed and hunched her shoulders.  
‘The remaining adults of the village reckon that I’m not going to live much longer, despite my perks of being an Enhanced creature,’ she murmured ‘They’ve prepared my grave for about a week and plans for my funeral are being arranged. I have been trying my best to stay alive because I’m young enough to believe that my father will come back someday. They’ve all been saying that he’s dead but they’re wrong. My father would never die easily.’ Xeann suddenly grabbed Amber by the shoulders, got down to one knee so she was at eye level and shook her firmly.  
‘No child should ever be buried,’ she said sternly, glaring into Amber’s eyes determinedly ‘You are going to live and survive through this, Amber. I promise you, your life will be back to normal and I will make sure that this whole Queen business is done and over with! And after that, you will be with your family and you will live the happy life that you and other children deserve! Do you hear me?!’ Amber nodded shakily, her amber coloured eyes wide slightly from Xeann’s outburst. Xeann suddenly hugged her tightly and sobbed. ‘Forgive me, I love children with all my heart. The thought of them having to die under these conditions.’ Amber hugged her back and patted her soothingly. She turned to Sabrina and Abigails’ resting places and sighed.  
‘I’ll be alright, you guys,’ she said with a weak smile ‘Just wait for a little while longer. I’m going to come back soon and I’ll bring Jasper back like you wanted, Abi. And I’ll find your parents too if you want, Sabrina. I’m sure I’ll find them somewhere now that I’m going out there. I promise that I’ll find my parents as well. I’m sure father is still out there somewhere, alive.’ She sighed and turned away. ‘Alright, I’m done.’ Xeann nodded and pulled away, standing up while wiping her tears way.  
‘Right, Amber. Let’s go.’ Amber nodded vigorously as they left the graveyard and headed south for village at the edge of the desert. She paused and looked back to her village briefly, silently saying a last goodbye and then running after Xeann to catch up with her.


	2. The World

‘You haven’t been outside of your village before have you?’ Xeann asked curiously as she glanced down at Amber ‘You’ve never ever left the village before.’ Amber shook her head.  
‘Unless you count a couple of miles into the desert for training then not really,’ she said with a shrug ‘I know a little about what’s outside from what my mum remembers from because she came from outside the village. She tutored both me and Jasper. I personally never learnt much from her but Jasper seemed keen to learn about the outside world.’ Xeann smiled.  
‘That’s nice of her,’ she commented ‘So she’s from outside the village?’  
‘Yes so she began teaching us about different cultures that she knew about first before she forgot anything,’ Amber laughed, Xeann joining in with a discrete simper.  
‘Tell me, Amber,’ Xeann said as they crossed through the desert underneath the moon ‘How much do you know about the Queen?’ She looked down at Amber who frowned, stared at the ground at shrugged.  
‘That she’s probably got my father in custody and her soldiers really need to polish up their skills if they don’t want to be beaten by a mere teenager,’ she said with a wide smirk ‘Oh, and she sent the world into a nightmarish state, using the Nightmare Blanket which she claims to have made, and that has made survival impossible and that’s because the Nightmare Blanket made certain life forms feral or more feral than usual. It’s also made a lot of natural disasters occur, another factor that has made life hell. If there are any possible factors to why this place is Hell, I don’t know any more because I’m sure that I’ve experienced every factor that there is.’ Xeann raised an eyebrow as she looked up at the stars.  
‘Have you ever seen the Queen?’ she asked ‘Were there any projections of her image within your village when she challenged people to come and fight her?’ Amber shook her head then looked up at Xeann.  
‘Why, have you?’ she asked inquisitively ‘Were there any images of her in your hometown?’ Xeann scoffed and waved her hand dismissively as she looked at the village on the edge of the nearing horizon.  
‘Her picture was plastered all over the place when the Nightmare Blanket engulfed the world,’ she said with a hateful scowl ‘That smug look when she announced her time of reign wanted to make me throw my blades into the holograms. She appeared quite randomly too, on screens of all kinds of technology, in holograms and even in my children’s soup which was fairly scary. But since then, I have never laid my eyes on her again. Her appearance was rather brief though, it’s a wonder how I can remember what she even looks like…’  
‘What is the Queen like?’ Amber asked curiously ‘How old does she look? Is she very young or old? Is she really ugly or very beautiful? Did she appear in a sorceress style dress, plain clothes or in armour?’ Xeann tittered lightly as Amber asked and asked to her heart’s content. Amber paused her questions when Xeann placed a hand down on her head a little firmly and stared up at the vampire.  
‘One question at a time,’ Xeann said calmly with a coy smile ‘Your first question, what was she like? She looked quite determined when she gave out that little speech so she must be quite dedicated to swallow the whole universe in nightmares. Your second question, how old does she look? She looked around about the age of sixteen or seventeen when I saw her, maybe older, but I’m not exactly sure how old she really is…’ Amber’s eyes widened at that answer.  
‘But how could she…? No, if she’s sixteen then that’s impossible! No teenager can possibly be able to contain such dark magic in their body…’   
Amber frowned in confusion, scratching her head thoughtfully and wondering how on this godforsaken planet a mere sixteen year old could have engulfed the entire world. By the looks of the dark sorcery that cursed this world with disaster, Amber was sure that the Queen would have at least been in her mid-thirties to have mastered such power as a sorceress. Perhaps even older, maybe in her elderly years. Amber was sure that there was a certain age where a sorcerer or a sorceress could take over the world and she was also sure that it wasn’t during the adolescent stage. Xeann chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder.  
‘Not everything is what it seems, dear,’ she said ‘Take a look at me, I look like I’m in my twenties but truth to be told, I’m eighty.’ She laughed louder as Amber spluttered and gaped at her with bulging eyes.  
‘B-B-But how?!’ Amber exclaimed ‘You look way too young to be eighty!’ Xeann smiled with a laugh and ruffled her hair.  
‘What do you know about how the creatures are categorized?’ she asked. Amber frowned and scratched her head.  
‘I know that they’re split into eight main categories,’ she said as she used her fingers to count ‘Uh, the first one is the Light category where creatures such as faeries, sirens and unicorns are placed in because they work more efficiently at day and in the sun. They tend to sleep during night. Um…then their counterpart is the Dark category where creatures such as vampires, werewolves and spectres are placed because they work more efficiently at night and in the moonlight and they tend to sleep during the day…’ Amber gasped suddenly in realisation and looked up at Xeann while pointing at her. ‘You’re a Dark creature aren’t you?!’ Xeann smiled and nodded.  
‘Very good recognition,’ she praised, making Amber beam in delight ‘How did you guess that I was in that category?’  
‘Well, you’re walking faster now it’s night than when we were walking at sunset,’ Amber said as she glanced back to where her village was ‘Your hair is black which is a sign that you’re part of that category, your skin is very pale and your eyes are blood red which is a sign that you’re…a vampire?’ Xeann’s smile softened somewhat as she watched Amber examine her.  
‘I know a lot of Dark creatures with light coloured hair,’ she said sternly with narrowed eyes ‘You mustn’t judge anyone from their hair, no matter their category. It’s known as a false friend in many cases.’  
‘O-Oh,’ Amber bowed her head with her cheeks flushing in embarrassment ‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.’  
‘No harm done, don’t worry,’ Xeann waved off the apology dismissively with a forced smile ‘And yes, you’re correct. I am indeed a vampire.’ Amber looked up again and her eyes widened.  
‘Wow…’ she mumbled ‘I’ve never met a vampire before. From my mother’s stories, she made out that vampires were dangerous, too dangerous to even befriend.’ Xeann laughed and shook her head.  
‘This journey out of your village will do you some good then,’ she smiled warmly ‘Can you tell me the six other categories?’ Amber hummed wistfully as she stared up at the night sky.   
‘There’s the category for Enhanced people like myself,’ she grinned jabbing a thumb into herself proudly and began doing a small strut across the desert with her chin up, earning a small giggle from Xeann ‘We live longer than normal humans and we’re faster, smarter and all our senses are more sensitive than normal humans. Well…most of us are smarter than humans. Our counterparts are the people who use Sorcery and alchemy…’ Amber glanced up at Xeann curiously, biting her lip. ‘That’s what the Queen is, isn’t she?’ Xeann nodded and she gazed up at the sky.  
‘She’s too young to know the immortality spell,’ she said contemplatively ‘Unless she really is older than she looks and she took a youth potion or used a time reverse spell or something of the like.’  
‘Hmm…’ Amber stared at the sand thoughtfully ‘There’s the Divine category and the Demonic category but I don’t know much about either of them. Apart from the fact that you should avoid demons at all costs and if you happen to come across one, never strike a deal with him.’ She shuddered inwardly.  
‘Divine creatures are created in the heavens, they aren’t born normally like you and me,’ Xeann explained, not noticing Amber’s inward shudder ‘Demonic creatures are created in the fiery depths of Hell by Lucifer in a similar fashion. That is what makes them so rare and unique from us. Heaven and Hell are where they belong and everyone tends to stay in the place they were born, or at least visit it often, even if it’s Hell.’ Amber shuddered again at the mention of Hell. She certainly didn’t want to meet another Demonic creature. ‘You have two more categories to list.’  
‘Oh! Um…’ Amber tapped her head ‘Normal and Abnormal. Normal creatures are those who survived the Time Age and maintained their original form while Abnormal creatures are those who survived but mutated because they weren’t ready for it.’ Xeann smiled and ruffled Amber’s hair softly.  
‘Well done, it looks like your village isn’t as isolated as I thought,’ she said and giggled softly. Amber remained silent as she stared up at Xeann in wonder. She always thought Dark creatures were cold, cruel, mean and unfeeling. But this woman, Xeann, had given her cloak to her to stay warm for the night and she was so warm, so friendly and sounded more motherly than her own mother!  
‘How many children do you have?’ Amber asked curiously ‘You must have a lot to be a good mother.’ Xeann sighed as she placed a hand on her head and thought for a while.  
‘…I’ve had my fifty second child before the Nightmare Blanket came,’ she said after a while ‘Crystal’s looking after her. …Yes that’s right, I have fifty two children, twenty six girls and twenty six boys.’  
‘Fifty-two children?!’ Amber exclaimed rather loudly and dropped her jaw in awe ‘You have fifty-two children?! How on Ethylias do you have fifty two children?!’ Xeann laughed as Amber continued spluttering and gaping.  
‘Well, in my area I’m known as the Vampire Mother because of my fertility, my status and my reputation among the vampire society in the town,’ she shrugged dismissively ‘I’ve been having children since I was twenty. I was always eager to be a mother. My parents often encouraged it since I was your age and I eventually succumbed to their suggestions.’ Amber was very shocked but very interested. She had never dared to stray out of the village and she hardly knew anything about the outside world other than its geography and history. Looking at the mountains, she yearned to learn more and meet more people.   
‘What was your town like before the Nightmare Blanket?’ she asked curiously.  
‘Oh, bustling and louder than any normal town should be!’ Xeann laughed and threw her hands up ‘Eventide Town had two of the best nightclubs around, one was exclusive for vampires like me. A lot of vampires inhabited the town because of that and it was just simply the best place I could have ever wished for a home. I moved to there after I moved out of my parents’ home. But I still go back home to for a visit about once a week. Oh, I always met someone new and cute every day. Pity most of my men just came and went, the fathers that came to me for my services tended to be quite young and they left before I could tell them that I was pregnant with their child.’  
‘Doesn’t that sadden you at all?’ Amber asked with a frown.  
‘Tch, no, of course not,’ Xeann shook her head ‘It infuriates me that they didn’t take my status as the Vampire Mother seriously and just left like that. They could have at least stayed around until their child was born. It takes my children about two years to accept that their fathers just simply didn’t care. I only had two loyal fathers who help look after the children. Sadly, they went off to fight the Queen on the first day that the Nightmare Blanket was released and neither of them has come back.’ Amber blinked away the tears in her eyes and shook her head.  
‘My village was lively too,’ she said wistfully ‘We had an oasis near the village to survive on but it dried out when the Nightmare Blanket engulfed the world. So many tourists came for a week’s holiday during the winter because that was when the desert was cool enough to sunbathe without getting sunburnt. There would be so many young children running up and down the streets with their best friends and toys, happy and laughing and smiling and so…energetic.’ Bowing her head sorrowfully, Amber sniffed softly, wiping her nose quickly and held back the coming tears. ‘They…aren’t like that anymore…’ Xeann cooed and placed a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.  
‘Hey, I’m sure we’ll figure out how to get rid of this Queen and her horrendous Nightmare Blanket,’ she murmured soothingly, rubbing her shoulder to comfort her further ‘We’ll find your father and your brother too if we can.’ Amber looked up and hugged Xeann tightly, sniffing and rubbing her nose tenderly.   
‘I really do hope so,’ she whimpered sadly as she tried to hold in her overflowing emotions as much as she could. Xeann patted her head softly and smiled.  
‘Tell me about your father, Amber,’ she said, idly twirling the thin strands of blue and silver hair with her slender fingers ‘What was he like?’ Amber rubbed her eyes and sniffed.  
‘Well…he likes drinking a lot,’ she mumbled which caused Xeann to cock an eyebrow in surprised shock ‘But he would only get really drunk in the evening and flirt with mother shamelessly. Jasper and I didn’t mind much, he wasn’t an abusive drunk.’  
‘Hmm,’ Xeann hummed, a bit unsure ‘I never had any positive experiences with drunken fathers when I was your age.’ Amber smiled and shrugged.  
‘Not many people do,’ she reasoned thoughtfully. Xeann chuckled and shook her head with a sigh.  
‘How your mother could possibly cope with a man like him, I might possibly never know,’ she said with a small smile ‘Out of all the men I have met in my life, I could certainly not be able to tolerate a man like that. How on Ethylias did they meet?’ Amber bit her lip thoughtfully and winced.  
‘Well…my father works as an assassin,’ she explained a bit sheepishly ‘And he got an assignment to kill mother.’ Xeann gasped in shock horror, staring down at her with wide eyes.  
‘No!’ she gasped in disbelief ‘Why on Ethylias was someone like Crystal on a hit list for an assassin?’ Amber shrugged.  
‘We’ll never know because father botched the mission because after getting to know mother, he fell in love,’ she explained ‘That’s why we live in the village, far away from easy contact to the outside world. As far as my father’s client is concerned, mother is dead and no longer around to annoy her.’ Xeann sighed and shook her head.  
‘Honestly, the nerve,’ she murmured softly with a disappointed sigh and a disapproving shake of the head ‘Who in their right mind would want to kill a sweet loving angel like poor Crystal? Oh, the poor soul, it must have hurt her to find out that someone wanted her dead. Really, envy is such a vulgar sin, don’t ever fall into the temptation of wanting something that another person has, especially if it’s about looks.’ Pausing for a moment, she cupped her chin in thought with a contemplative frown. ‘You don’t know what Crystal’s life was like before she moved to the village?’ Amber shrugged.  
‘She didn’t really want to talk about her past,’ she explained ‘Although I do remember that she came from a well off family and she was betrothed before father whisked her off her feet…literally.’ Xeann laughed and sighed.  
‘Oh, I can imagine some man with hidden knives up his shirt coming and sweeping Crystal away into the desert now,’ she giggled and shook her head ‘I assume that Crystal and her betrothed didn’t get on?’  
‘Well she liked him as just a friend,’ Amber shrugged as she tried to remember her mother’s story ‘He was head over heels for her immediately after they first met. I guess mother wasn’t comfortable with the marriage so I think she was grateful when father came and took her away.’ Xeann hummed thoughtfully.  
‘I suppose she was wanted dead if she was about to inherit something big,’ she murmured and sighed disappointedly ‘Humans these days. They are just too greedy for their own good…’ Amber shrugged.  
‘What can you do? Humans are humans,’ she shook her head with a sigh. Xeann smirked and looked up at the stars.  
‘Some humans aren’t so bad,’ she smiled wistfully ‘I had a lover that stayed with me for two years.’ Amber looked up curiously.  
‘What happened?’ she asked. Xeann grinned.  
‘I turned him into a vampire so he could be immortal and stay with me forever,’ she simpered, ignoring the wince from Amber ‘The thing with humans for vampires is that their lives are so short, they can easily just waste away in your hands. I didn’t want that to happen to him, he was just too useful to be wasted. And he also baked some top quality brownies, my children loved him.’ Amber frowned.  
‘Well, if you say so,’ she shrugged nervously, inching away warily. Xeann tittered lightly and continued walking. Slowly, the edges of Amber’s vision began to turn black. She found that she couldn’t walk in a straight line anymore and felt really dizzy, awful and sick, like she was in a terrible nightmare that she couldn’t wake up from. Xeann stopped abruptly and grabbed her shoulder.  
‘Amber, are you feeling OK there?’ she said as Amber swayed uneasily on the spot ‘Amber, are you alright, dear? Amber!’ Amber collapsed into her arms abruptly and Xeann sighed in exasperation. ‘No, no, Amber, no, stay awake for me please! Look, we’re nearly at Vigour Village, it’s not very far now!’ she said in a panicky way and began shaking her more urgently, bowing her head in despair when Amber didn’t respond ‘Come on, Amber, dear, wake up for me please! We’re almost there! Just open your eyes and look, we’re almost out of the desert! Damn it.’ She stood up with Amber in her arms and began to run for the village by the mountains. Amber didn’t stir and Xeann pressed her fingers to her neck to check for a pulse. There was a weak one and Xeann bit her lip nervously, worried that she might have rescued her a bit too late.  
She gently placed a hand on the bandages and widened her eyes when she felt something that didn’t feel like normal cuts or bites. It felt bumpy and squishy and Xeann shuddered when she felt it beneath her fingertips.  
‘Come on, Amber,’ she whispered to the teenager ‘Be strong, we’ll get you back up and healthy in no time. Just you wait and see, then perhaps you can see your family when you wake up. Please just bear with it, Amber.’ She continued to whisper and encourage Amber as she slept on in black unconsciousness. Xeann stared up at the moon pleadingly, tears appearing in her eyes. ‘Please, don’t hide your light that helps me travel,’ she whispered to it ‘I beg you, keep your light available for me to travel as quickly as possible for this little child.’ She hiccupped and buried her nose in Amber’s hair as she swiftly ran across the desert that was bathed in moonlight.


	3. Vigour Village

Xeann’s chest heaved heavily as she managed to cross the desert, the moon disappearing as dawn claimed the sky. Sweat rolled down her pale face as she gently placed Amber down on the ground and sat down with a tired sigh. She yawned and rubbed her eyes while looking at Amber. She smiled softly and leaned over to check her pulse. There was still some life in the teenager yet and Xeann sighed in relief, her smile slowly coming back on her face.  
‘Good girl, Amber,’ she murmured as she picked Amber up again, cradling her gently ‘Just a few more minutes, we can be able to get you some treatment when we get you to a doctor.’ She glanced up to Vigour Village and grimaced. ‘If we can find a doctor for you…’  
Xeann would have never expected a village with such a high reputation in its health and veterinary care to be so rundown, in so much disrepair and soiled. The vampire stopped at the outskirts and examined her surroundings carefully. The once white and immaculate buildings were stained with dirt, mud and other unhygienic sediments. Filthy brown murky water trickled down the muddy barren streets and a rancid smell polluted the once clean air, making Xeann’s nose wrinkle in disgust. Xeann sighed softly to herself as she examined the extremely poorly maintained village with sad blood red eyes. A tear of sympathy rolled down her cheek and she let it fall off her face and land on Amber’s shoulder. It was just horrible what the Nightmare Blanket did to people and their lives. Bring up disasters and create new nightmares for them to deal with. Without much of a warning too and no-one can get the life they deserved unless they chose to follow the Queen. Of course, hardly anyone liked the idea of being led by a mere sorceress.  
‘What an awful way to fall,’ she murmured, wrapping her cloak around Amber more firmly when the young teenager shivered from the cold ‘Let’s hope there are some doctors here somewhere.’  
Amber stirred slightly when she heard Xeann’s voice. Xeann smiled softly, happy to have one reaction from the unconscious teenager then looked at the village again. She hadn’t been here before, but Xeann knew that this village would have been bustling with healthy people and lots of healthy and relaxed laughing children, carefree and cheerful before the Nightmare Blanket came. Vigour Village’s reputation was that huge if it reached large cities like the one she lived in. Oh, how Xeann despised the cursed Nightmare Blanket which not only affected her, but all living things. These once white buildings would have been pristinely clean and people would come far and wide to get special treatment for any kind illness, either lethal or non-lethal. Not a speck of dirt or disease could stand a chance of survival in this shiny clean village, once upon a time. This village had once been named Vigour Village due to the wellbeing of its residents and its well-known reputation in healthcare. Now it was merely a failing little village in poor condition with little life since the Nightmare Blanket was created, released and sent to engulf the world, causing misery, anguish and despair everywhere. Neither healthy nor happy didn’t exist in this cruel, suffering and dark world anymore. Especially since the Nightmare Blanket brought back diseases that had been long wiped out and even created some new ones that were currently incurable. Because of the hostile conditions resources were hard to find and get, new antibiotics were difficult to discover and hospital machines started failing so research was near impossible.  
Xeann tipped her head up and stared at the fake morning sky above her with a scornful glare, where the Nightmare Blanket swirled through the atmosphere, horrors and nightmares trailing in its wake. If she had her hands free, she would freely make rude gestures to it, even though it wouldn’t do anything much good. Letting off a bit of steam was good for your mental health apparently. It looked like just the normal morning sky from before the Queen’s invasion, coloured by the fake sunrise across the desert but Xeann knew that the Nightmare Blanket was up there somewhere because it was coloured navy blue and every so now and then, the illusion of the beautiful calm sky would flicker and the dark layer would reveal itself momentarily. It scared all her children when it did that, it made them feel like they were in some sort of…well, nightmare. A nightmare that you couldn’t escape from, no matter how hard you try to get away from it. You just want to wake up, but no matter what you do, you can’t. You can close your eyes and pretend that none of it is real but you can never escape from reality before you. Dreams couldn’t exist in her younger children’s minds anymore; it was only pure darkness and the horrific nightmares that would greet them whenever they went to bed to sleep. Xeann had gotten used to it after a few days, but none of her children hadn’t. They begged to not go to sleep or be sent to bed but Xeann had to tell them that sleep was necessary for them to be healthy. The look on their faces broke her heart terribly. There had been several rumours of those who had died from the nightmares just because they were too horrible to even describe. Xeann didn’t want to leave her dear children so she could get Vienna but she loved Vienna and the children were in good hands with Crystal. It broke her heart when she saw her younger children watch her leave, fear on all of their faces, as if they were afraid that she would never come back. Xeann knew that there was one thing for sure, she was going to come back home no matter what obstacle obstructed her path.  
Crystal was such a kind and pure soul, like an angel. A sweet loving angel that had descended from the heavens, as if she pitied humans and decided that they deserved her presence. Xeann hadn’t met anyone, apart from angels, with such virtue and kindness within her heart. Every one of Xeann’s children adored her since she was bought as a servant. She never complained, never protested and always volunteered to help for anything but Xeann only managed to break her barriers when she saw her crying and having a bit of a case of homesickness. She was worried about her children, worried about her husband and most of all; she was worried about what would happen in the future. Crystal was beautiful as well; it had been hard to get her from the auction that Xeann just happened to pass by. All the men had a look of foul hunger in their eyes when she was put on display and eagerly placed their bid for her. The price stung Xeann quite a lot but it didn’t matter, as long as one pure soul was under her wing. She always had been a very charitable woman that it was ridiculous despite the fact she wasted a fair bit of money on herself. People would normally think the opposite because they would be stereotypical because being in the Dark category automatically made people think badly of them.  
Xeann gently cradled Amber into a different position so that her head was rested comfortably on her shoulder. She lay her own head on hers and sighed, rocking the young teenager from side to side. With a small smile, she closed her eyes and imagined that she was back at home, cradling one of her own children. She then stared ahead at the village and grimaced. She wasn’t sure if she should leave Amber in such a filthy village now that she was infected and she would be at greater risk of other diseases if she was left here. But Xeann knew she would face certain death if she continued travelling with her. Xeann sighed forlornly and shook her head. She didn’t really have much choice. Amber had to stay here or she would not survive. Xeann wouldn’t dare take a risk when it concerned a child. Having a child die in her arms would prove to be a very traumatizing experience that the vampire would prefer not to experience. Xeann nodded firmly at her decision and brushed the hair out of Amber’s face.  
‘I’m so sorry, Amber,’ she sighed ‘But I’m afraid you can’t come any further with me. This is where your short journey ends, I’m afraid.’   
Shifting the sleeping Amber carefully in her grip, Xeann began walking down the filthy abandoned streets in search for what was left of the health clinic, careful not to step in anything nasty. Amber’s breathing was barely noticeable and when Xeann pulled the bandages off to check her wounds, she was completely horrified at the infection that covered her entire body. This girl had been suffering from illnesses for too long and it pained Xeann to see such a young girl suffering from such diseases. Being a mother of fifty-two, Xeann had seen her children suffer from minor and major sickness. Not everyone, even angels and demons, was fully protected from illnesses and diseases. Xeann remembered when she got silver poisoning from being shot by a vampire hunter with silver bullets. She was sick for years and was unable to bear children for that time period. Silver poisoning was hard to live through because it would pollute a vampire or werewolf’s blood and then the heart. Heart failure would come after that then death. Xeann felt like one lucky woman when she managed to pull through. Her children were sick with worry because a lot of vampires and werewolves died from silver poisoning, she would have probably been no exception. Even Vienna was worried about her. Though she wouldn’t admit it, Xeann knew that she was worried about her. She had caught her when she had visited her once, asleep next to her.  
Xeann gazed down at Amber sadly, who was still unconscious, although she seemed to still be in pain. Xeann gently massaged her furrowed brows, hoping that it would calm her down slightly. Amber moaned and kicked her leg out to show that she still had a bit of life in her yet. Xeann gently swabbed her sweating brow, wishing she had some ice to at least cool her down. Amber said she had a brother that she loved dearly and he was taken away from her along with her mother. A younger brother. Xeann couldn’t understand why this Queen would send her mindless soldiers across the world to do as they pleased and ruin other peoples’ lives. Xeann didn’t, couldn’t understand why she wanted all of them to live in this terror, this horrible…nightmare where there’s no escape. It was simply unjust, everyone, including werewolves Xeann might grudgingly add with a scowl, had the right to be happy, healthy and live in comfortable conditions. To take away that right is just wrong and thoroughly unreasonable. Who exactly is this Queen and why did she think that she had the right to ruin everyone’s lives and happiness?   
Xeann paused and closed her eyes softly, remembering that image of the young woman who was the root of everyone’s problems. She looked no younger than sixteen but the way she dressed and acted, she acted as if she was thirty. She had her long dark green hair tied up in a high ponytail, without a single hair out of place, styled with several ringlets at the tips. Her fiery magenta eyes almost matched her blood red ones and her skin was as pale as the moonlight. She was a beautiful young woman, garbed in beautiful dark regal sorceress dresses with black gothic chokers, diamond studded rings and painted nails. Xeann had to admit, she truly did look and act like a queen when she challenged all of those who could fight. Vienna’s father went to fight her but he never returned. Worried for him, Vienna’s mother went to look for him but she never returned either. Worried for the both of them, Vienna ran off to look for them and Xeann didn’t want to take any more chances so pursued her.  
It was a tough decision for Xeann to make. Be a good mother or be a good grandmother, it was difficult for her to decide. She had made a promise to her daughter to look after Vienna until she got back. Now Vienna’s gone, Xeann had to go after her to make sure she’s alright. But she had a baby to take care of too. Cassandra didn’t have an easy birth because of the Nightmare Blanket but it was a miracle that she came out as a healthy baby. None of Xeann’s children had died yet and Xeann would never forgive herself if one of her children died in her arms. Xeann flinched at the thought of any of her children dying and shook her head quickly to get rid of the horrific vision.  
Finally spotting a small white building with mud and a bit of old blood splattered on its walls and the health symbol slowly losing its green paint, Xeann shoved the old wooden door open, accidentally knocking it off its hinges and marched to the counter. The door landed on the floor with a loud clatter that echoed in the reception room. The reception room had grey peeling walls and there were several splatters of old and fairly fresh blood along them. Xeann wrinkled her nose as her vampire sense of scent smelt more blood that smelt older and staler further inside the building. Business hadn’t exactly been easy since the Nightmare Blanket came clearly. Well, this business wasn’t the only one that wasn’t running as smoothly. Of course resources were harder to grow and mine so everywhere went bankrupt quickly. Money meant nothing to anyone anymore. The ceiling’s panels looked as if they would fall off and land on Xeann as she walked across the room to the counter at any possible minute. A skinny middle-aged man cowered behind the dark, damp, dirty counter as she lay Amber on the wooden surface and looked at him. His beady eyes were now wide and fearful, his mouth hanging open slightly at the sight of her. Xeann then realised he wouldn’t speak first so she did.   
‘She needs medical assistance,’ she said as she took back her cloak and ripped Amber’s bandages off to reveal the yellow pus-filled cuts that covered her lithe body ‘urgently.’ The man swallowed with a quiver and Xeann folded her arms impatiently. ‘I will pay any price you name,’ she promised and raised her voice slightly ‘just do something about her condition!’ She slammed her hands down harshly onto the counter and gave the man a powerful glare. The man squeaked and nodded, calling out in a wheezy and shaky voice.  
‘M-Miranda! S-S-Someone needs to be treated for, uh urgently, for…’ He unsteadily placed a hand on Amber’s infection. ‘Z-Zennalpha plague!’   
A young pale skinny woman skittered in and spotted Amber with a yelp. She then spotted Xeann and stepped back when she caught the impatient look within her blood red eyes. Her blue eyes widened in terror as she froze in position. Xeann cleared her throat harshly after about a minute which startled the nurse back into focusing her attention on Amber. She ran up to suffering teenager and pressed a hand firmly on her sweating forehead and gasped in horror.  
‘Oh the poor thing!’ she cooed and picked her up to take her upstairs ‘We might have enough resources to make some mild medicine that can keep away the infection for as long as possible.’ Xeann warily watched the way Amber was picked up and taken out of her sight. Biting her lip, she frowned unsurely. She never trusted nurses, especially if they had extreme prejudices against vampires like her. Her hospital involvement with silver poisoning and nurses wasn’t the best of experiences for her.  
Xeann took a small leather pouch off her belt and tipped it to reveal five large gold coins. She shook out her leather pouch more, nodding when she confirmed that it was empty with no other coins left to tip out to pay the man. Vampires and werewolves couldn’t touch silver coins because nature made them unable to touch silver and the only currency in the world was through gold, silver and bronze coins. They had to be paid in either gold or bronze coins. If any silver touched a vampire or werewolf’s skin, they would suffer from the lethal condition of silver poisoning. Xeann dropped the five gold coins on the counter before pocketing the rest in her pouch and attaching it to her belt. The man stared in awe with a slack jaw as the gold coins reflected the dawn’s light into his face. Xeann cleared her throat harshly and he squeaked in fright, grabbing the coins hastily and opening a draw then dropping them in there. Xeann wondered what had scared this man so much. Did she really look that scary to him? Well, if it’s concerning a child then it was possible… Or maybe he was another one of those stereotypical people who judged her by the looks. Oh, Xeann was getting sick and tired of them.  
‘We d-don’t have any ch-change…’ he stuttered and Xeann held up a hand for him to stop talking.  
‘I’m not going to rob you or anything, I just need that girl to be cured and alive,’ she said calmly before turning on her heel briskly and walked to the doorway ‘I’m putting her in your care and I expect her to be unharmed when you discharge her back to her village, across the desert.’ She turned her head and gave a stern look to the pale man. ‘Spend that money wisely.’ The man nodded shakily and she narrowed her eyes. ‘Oh, and please sort out your prejudices. At a time like this, you can’t afford to be picky.’ The man squeaked and nodded again. She gave a firm nod before pulling her hood up, facing the mountain that loomed over the village and continuing her journey to the Queen’s tower. She had to get Vienna back home safely.  
Xeann began ascending the rocky path up the mountains behind Vigour Village, unaffected by the fact her high heel boots weren’t made for this kind of travel. She didn’t even take a small slip or a stumble despite the steepness of the slopes. She loved her high heel boots, always have always will. Even when people complained that she was tall enough without the heels, Xeann never left her home without them. Her husbands had managed to convince her that she had enough high heel boots at home so she had stopped buying them long ago. Apart from the odd one or two pairs that she simply fell in love with and had to purchase, Xeann hadn’t bought a pair of high heel boots for twenty years. Wearing high heel boots for sixty years gave Xeann the ability to walk absolutely everywhere in them.  
Xeann stopped hiking in the middle of the mountain and swabbed her forehead with a gasp. She glared at the fake sun that was created by the Nightmare Blanket and took a swig of blood from one of the gourds on her belt. She wiped her mouth and stood in the shade for a while, regaining her strength. Without the Nightmare Blanket hindering her progress, Xeann was sure that she would have found Vienna by now. Full of dark sorcery and potent elemental power, the Nightmare Blanket only knew how to make everyone’s lives difficult and knew what everyone feared. Last month, Xeann’s son came crying to her when a fake body of his twin sister appeared on his bed. Xeann didn’t know what could have possibly left something like that there until her son described his nightmare to her. It suddenly clicked in when Xeann woke up from a nightmare of her own and one of her children’s heads, a fake one, was on her lap. Xeann wasn’t someone who would faint but that’s what she did when she saw the emotionless eyes on the head.  
With another shake of the head to get rid of her memory, Xeann began ascending the mountain again. She wasn’t going to take Vienna straight home once she got her hands on her troublesome granddaughter. She was going to come with her to the Queen and defeat her with her own hands. Xeann didn’t care how young she looked or how powerful she may be, she was going to take down the Queen herself if she had to and make her suffer the nightmares that all of her children had to suffer for the past four months. Xeann would show no mercy to her. As a mother, a grandmother and a good friend to all, who would put aside their differences to accept her as a friend, Xeann would go forward and kill the Queen if she had to.  
Xeann eventually reached the peak of the mountain after about half an hour and paused for a breather. A blinding flash went across her eyes and she rasped thirstily. She took out a flask from her belt and flipped it open. Blood flowed down her throat as she drank from it greedily to quench her burning thirst for blood, sighing as she finished. With a satisfied bloody smile, she wiped her lips to get rid of the remnants of blood around her mouth and began to descend down the other side of the mountain, determined to retrieve her granddaughter. She carefully treaded her way down the steep slope, minding to not slip down and slide down all the way to the bottom. She paused as she heard a loud shrill cry and widened her eyes when a shadow was cast over her then began to run.


	4. Cody

Amber groaned groggily as she felt herself wake up woozily, her body all stiff and rigid, and tried to open her eyelids. They protested irritably, making themselves as heavy as possible so her body can continue to sleep peacefully. Her whole body, as small as it is, felt as heavy as lead and Amber’s brain just screamed to just go to sleep and let all her worries just fly away. Amber couldn’t remember much about what happened to her and why she was like this. She felt unbelievably hot, her blood was boiling and melting her bones, disintegrating her entire being into one gooey messy puddle. Amber blocked out the pain, her trained instincts telling her to open her eyes, sit up and examine her surroundings. She was supposed to be a top-trained assassin, trained by the best of the best given that in mind, she mustn’t ever let her guard down. Finally, Amber’s eyes creaked open and she winced when she saw light. It felt painful, nearly too painful, to see so much light after being encased in so much darkness for so long. With a pained groan, Amber tried moving her body and only succeeded in rolling her aching shoulders slightly. She gasped as she felt a cold hand against her sweating forehead and her eyes opened wide, her hand reaching out and snatching the wrist to which the hand was attached to. Her reflexes were slow so she assumed that it wasn’t much of a threat if the hand hadn’t retracted.  
‘Hey, ssh…’ a soft voice reached her ears as her vision blackened after the initial brief and short burst of instinctual energy ‘There’s no need to be so jumpy, you’re safe now and more healthy than before. You still need a few hours of rest though so just take it easy and relax.’ Amber swayed tiredly and abruptly fell backwards onto the hard bed but her head landed on a somewhat soft pillow. She curled up when a blanket was pulled over her and the voice tittered. ‘You’re such a cute little girl,’ it said with a soft coo ‘Naw, if you weren’t recovering, I’d cuddle you to your death.’ Amber’s eyes opened and her vision cleared. In front of her was a young blonde woman with bright blue eyes and pale skin. Her wide yellow smile was broad, optimistic and cheery but it revealed the tiny cracks in her pale plump dehydrated lips. Amber glowered at her.  
‘Don’t call me cute,’ she said bluntly and took a good look around in the room she was in. It was falling apart, there were nasty cracks in the peeling walls and there was a horrific stench in the air. Amber had no desire to know what it was coming from. She confirmed that she was in some sort of medical centre when she smelt chemicals lingering in the air with the horrific stench. She shifted uncomfortably on the hard bed she was on. The woman laughed and placed a hand on Amber’s shoulder. Amber growled at her as menacingly as she could master but the woman continued laughing.  
‘Aw, sweetie, that cute adorable growl just makes you even cuter,’ she cooed and pinched her cheek playfully ‘Now why can’t I have a little sister like you? I know! I could adopt you and keep you as my daughter!’  
‘Owwww…’ Amber whined loudly and pulled away from her, retreating further into the blankets ‘Get off me or I’ll hurt you. I mean it.’ She grumbled moodily and rubbed her cheek while the woman giggled away hysterically.  
‘My name’s Candy, honey,’ she said while pulling the blanket away from Amber with a warm wide smile.  
‘My name’s Amber, not honey,’ Amber mumbled grumpily and snatched the blanket back, wrapping it around her small body firmly with a grumpy indistinct mutter. She eyed Candy cautiously for a second or two and narrowed her amber coloured eyes suspiciously. ‘I assume you’re in the Normal category, aren’t you?’ she said warily. Candy grinned and nodded.  
‘Yep, but I do have a little bit of Sorcery blood in me,’ she said modestly ‘but it’s just really a little bit. I’ve used what I could to heal you up.’  
‘Heal?’ Amber’s hand immediately moved down to her bandages which were clean and white instead of dirty and brown. She sat up abruptly, threw the blanket aside and gaped at the pristine clean white bandages around her torso. She had never seen anything so clean and unspoiled for a good long while. Touching them gently and carefully, she realised she couldn’t feel the large yellow squishy bumps that covered her wounds through them. ‘What happened to me?’ she murmured in astonishment.   
‘I healed you, hun,’ Candy tittered lightly ‘I must say, you had a pretty tough case of Zennalpha plague so Miranda dropped you off with me so I could look after you.’ Amber stared at her warily and frowned.  
‘Who’s Miranda?’ she asked. Candy smiled warmly.  
‘Why she’s my older sister,’ she replied ‘She may not be as beautiful as me, but she can sure pack a punch to any virus and infection with her healing powers. Even with the Nightmare Blanket botching all her spells, she manages to pull through somehow.’ Amber jumped when the door suddenly opened and saw a slightly older woman, who looked uncannily like Candy that Amber assumed they were sisters, come in with a glass of water and a small bowl on a tray. She smiled and placed the tray on Amber’s lap.  
‘Hey there, honey, my name’s Miranda,’ she greeted warmly and sat on Amber’s bed ‘How you feeling now, sweetie?’ She gently placed a hand on Amber’s head and brightened up. ‘Oh good, your temperature is finally cooling. I was starting to lose hope when you didn’t wake up for six days.’ Candy nodded knowingly and sighed.  
‘I was getting ready to dig your grave, just outside of here with the others, because our success rate has been decreasing since the Nightmare Blanket came.’ She nibbled her lip thoughtfully.  
‘What do you mean six days?!’ Amber exclaimed in disbelief with wide eyes ‘I’ve been sleeping here for six days?!’ Suddenly remembering how she fell asleep in the first place, she looked up at both women. ‘Where’s Xeann?’ The sisters stared at her with frowns until Miranda gasped and clapped her hands together.  
‘Do you mean that scary but beautiful vampire that dropped you off while nearly scaring poor old Uncle Jack to death?’ she asked and when Amber nodded she sighed softly ‘She went off and across the mountain. She told us that you had to be unharmed before we discharge you safely back to your village. Or you could have the choice in staying here, it’s much safer and Jack wouldn’t mind having an extra mouth to because that vampire gave us enough money to look after you… Plus you’re too cute to just send back to that nasty village, aw, I really want to keep you…’  
‘Same here!’ Candy giggled and the sisters laughed together with wide smiles.  
‘But I can’t go back to the village nor can I stay here!’ Amber protested, stopping them from laughing ‘I need to confront the Queen and find my father! And after that I need to find my little brother and my mother! I have to find them!’ She tried to get off the bed but was wrestled back by both sisters. ‘Let me go, I need to catch up to Xeann! I said I’d help her find her granddaughter!’   
‘Now listen here, Amber,’ Miranda said as she fought against her ‘I am letting no patient of mine running off and going back into the danger out there, especially if that patient is too young to be alone at a time like this!’   
‘Just let me go, you stupid women!’ The room filled with the girls screeching and the loud thuds of Amber being pushed back into the bed.

***

Jack’s pale shivering skinny hand shakily wrote down the possible things he could but to benefit the health clinic with the vampire’s money. Five gold coins would keep the taxman that came often away for a good month or two. But he could also use it to hire a professional scavenger to get a few months’ worth of medicine supplies just to keep himself and his nieces alive. Professional scavengers had been popping up everywhere since the Nightmare Blanket came, looking for a job that they could get a lot of money out of. They charged seriously high prices. The higher the price, the more likely they’ll return successfully with the resources that had been asked for. One had to be very picky and careful when choosing a professional scavenger to work for them. Jack sighed and closed his eyes, managing a small smile when he heard silence and began enjoying the peace.  
A foot suddenly slammed onto the cracked white tiled floor, cracking it even more and breaking the silence and Jack screamed in fright, dropping his pen and the paper flew up in the air with his sudden actions. A young healthy hand snatched it as it flew across the room and a young teenager boy came in. He had a healthy tan on his skin and his whole body seemed to thrive with energy. His dark golden eyes gleamed wickedly as he read it through. With a thoughtful hum, he glanced at Jack and tutted.  
‘Five hundred grams of sun faerie dust?’ he said with a raised golden eyebrow and a wicked white grin while going across his face. Jack stuttered helplessly and retreated to the far wall in fear. The young boy’s golden spiky hair crackled with electricity and the lights flickered throughout the building. Jack shivered as he reached the counter and leaned over, his golden eyes glinting mischievously. ‘Well that’s an expensive little mineral isn’t it, Mr Fry? Looking for an expensive professional scavenger, are we?’ Jack shook violently and screamed as the boy broke through the poorly made counter.  
‘I-I can p-pay the t-tax!’ he stuttered fearfully but stopped as the boy raised a hand to silence him ‘I p-promise that I c-can actually give y-you some m-money today, you won’t have to come back again for a while, a-a long while…’ The boy cleared his throat sharply, silencing the man finally. He suddenly snatched the handle of the drawer and forced it open, breaking it in the process. The five gold coins skittered around and the smile on the boy’s face grew wider.  
‘Well, well, well, what kind of generous customer was able to pay this kind of money?’ he asked curiously with a shiny lopsided grin as he picked one up and held it in the blazing sunlight that shone through the door and the cracked windows ‘Must have been a very well off person which is so rare in these parts of the world.’ Glancing at Jack with a devious smirk, he took the other four coins and put them in a small pouch, putting it on his belt. He leaned into Jack so that Jack could smell what had been an unlucky catch for his lunch. Jack looked paler than milk and he looked on the verge of fainting too. The boy looked roughly fifteen to sixteen years old but he could tower over this man in his full height, making the man cower in his shadow. Smirking, her tilted his head questioningly and placed a hand over his ear. ‘I’m sorry but I can’t quite hear you. You’re going to have to speak up, old man, or I might misinterpret you.’  
‘A-A-A-A-A v-v-v-v-vamp-p-p-p-pire!’ Jack stuttered out as his whole body trembled in anxiety. The boy’s pupils suddenly widened at the mention of a vampire and the golden warm glow in his eyes turned ice cold. He snarled in contempt, his bright white teeth bared fiercely and Jack hastily began talking again. ‘But she left! She left a little girl in our care with Zennalpha plague and she isn’t a v-v-v-vampire!’ The boy narrowed his eyes and stared at Jack hard.   
‘Which room?’ he asked.  
‘C-Candy’s…’ Jack swallowed. The boy turned sharply on his heel and walked out, his footsteps echoing throughout the nearly empty building, leaving Jack to slump to the floor and promptly faint.

***

Candy and Miranda froze abruptly, Amber against their bed in their grip. Amber blinked in confusion, frozen in an awkward position on the bed and watched as the lights above her flickered and saw the look of pure terror on the sisters’ faces. Candy’s eyes were wide and staring at Miranda while Miranda mouthed ‘Oh no’ to her. Two shrill screams assaulted Amber’s sensitive hearing when the door slammed open, falling off its poorly maintained hinges. Amber sat up in attention, her hands still covering her ears from the screams, as the girls retreated to the far corner of the room. Her eyes widened fearfully as a healthy teenage blonde boy entered in the room, his spiky blonde hair crackling like a live wire with electrical energy. The girls screamed again as one of the light bulbs suddenly popped from an energy overload. The boy chuckled in amusement as shattered glass showered over Amber. His teeth were whiter than any kind of teeth Amber had ever seen and his eyes were a dark gold colour. They looked over to the sisters and the boy sighed.  
‘Why, you two lovely ladies look lovelier by every tax collection, pity you won’t even consider going on a date with me,’ he grinned cheekily then turned his sights to Amber ‘And who’s this little girl? She looks like she could easily be one of your sisters.’ He walked over to her casually and grabbed her chin harshly, examining her face carefully. ‘A fine job you two did in healing her,’ he complimented the nurses ‘I’ve never seen anyone look so healthy for the past few months.’ He chuckled wryly and continued examining Amber’s face. His eyes suddenly gleamed in recognition. ‘Why…you’re Amber from the village across the desert.’ He grinned wider. ‘Well, well, lucky me.’  
‘Cody please have some sympathy!’ Cody snapped his head to the girls who flinched at his gaze. Miranda hesitantly stepped forward, her hands shaking in fright as she shakily opened her mouth to speak again. ‘Sh-She’s o-only just recovering and she’s very young, just let her be please. She has other wounds to recover from too, including some nasty snake bites and she’s been through so much since she was brought here… Please, Cody, I know a young man like yourself has a bit of compassion for a younger person…’ Cody smirked then paused, as if he was thinking hard and clicked his tongue.   
‘Sorry, doll,’ he sighed and shrugged his shoulders in a mocking regretful manner ‘The Queen’s orders must always, and I mean always, be completed. We’ve all got to do our jobs, you know. The economy nowadays is a bit unstable…’ Amber snatched both of his wrists when he tried to grab her with a snarl. She kicked him as hard as she could in the chest and managed to knock him out of the room. He staggered in shock as she grabbed the blanket, ran past the startled sisters and jumped out of the open window. She landed unsteadily on her cut-covered feet and wrapped the blanket around her like a toga over her almost nude body which was only covered in bandages. She began to run towards the mountain hurriedly, her bare bandaged feet leaving bloody footprints in the dusty roads. Her heart was beating loudly and she felt rather panicky as her legs shook from their sudden use after six days in a coma. She yelped sharply as Cody came flying out of the health clinic doorway and lunged for her. They rolled around in the dust and dirty water until Cody pinned Amber down harshly. Amber bit her lip as she felt some of her bones click awkwardly. A low rumble was heard overheard and dark clouds blocked the sun. Cody smirked and leaned down close to Amber’s face. ‘So you won’t come willingly?’ Amber scowled at him.  
‘Never,’ she snarled determinedly, baring her teeth like a ferocious animal ‘unless you tell me what has happened to my father then I might think about it…’ Cody cocked an eyebrow and raised his head, staring at the black clouds. He pulled a thoughtful face and cupped his chin wistfully, his golden eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He then suddenly grinned and glanced at Amber with a knowing smirk. He sighed and cracked his knuckles, as if he was prepared to beat her up. Amber stepped back warily, biting her lip as he rolled his shoulders stiffly.  
‘Well I’m really sorry, kid, but I don’t know your father or what happened to him so I guess I’ll have to use a little bit of my…persuasion.’ Amber’s heart leapt as she heard some menacing thunder echo in the distance and used the remaining of her strength to push Cody off her and jump to her feet. A good thing she did that too because a large bolt of blinding lightning landed where she had been shortly after. Amber staggered back in shock with wide frightened eyes and a slack jaw and her breath caught itself in her throat as Cody chuckled loudly. ‘What’s the matter, Amber?’ he asked curiously ‘Scared of a little bit of lightning? It’s alright, you won’t feel a thing if you get struck. I’ll make sure of that, just for you.’ Amber was not scared of thunder and lightning, she was absolutely terrified since she accidentally got struck by lightning when she was a little girl. She had always had been scared since that time and that fear will always stay with her no matter what. Cody chuckled as he got himself on his feet and looked up at the sky, his arms out as if he was greeting the dark clouds with a friendly embrace. He laughed slightly and tilted his chin up fully.  
Amber yelped in fright and jumped back far away when a large bolt of bright white lightning landed on Cody full on. Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated when Cody’s body turned golden and a howl that sent chills down her spine echoed in the abandoned village. His white shirt ripped as he grew taller and his shoulders grew broader, revealing the muscles that he had been hiding. Light golden claws grew out of his brown sandals while his khaki shorts stretch to accommodate the sudden increase of muscle in his thighs, calves and waist. Brilliant, golden fur grew all over his body and a wave of electricity flowed through the thick coat. Cody gave a wolfish grin to the terrified Amber in all his newly transformed werewolf glory, thunder clapping directly above him. At full height, he looked around about seven feet tall. Gulping loudly and nervously, Amber stepped back as it began to rain heavily around them. Cody growled in a teasing fashion and Amber legged it, more terrified of transformed werewolves that were too large for her comfort than thunder and lightning. The sound of heavy, resounding steps echoed throughout the streets as Amber blindly ran through the rain. Her silver hair with blue highlights stuck to her scalp and face due to the rain as she jumped over the developing puddles and headed straight for the mountain. Cody’s footsteps stopped abruptly and Amber didn’t dare look back to see why he had stopped. Pain shot through her as a bolt of lightning came down on her, shocking her and collapsing on the street while blacking out. She grimaced as she realised that Cody was wrong. She did feel pain and it was something that she never wanted to experience ever again.  
Cody smirked widely as the rain stopped and he shrunk down to his human form slowly. His clothes just loosely covered his body after they had been stretched and outgrown by the transformation. He panted tiredly, falling to his hands and knees beside Amber with sweat trickling down his face and looked down at her with a forlorn look. Sighing and heaving her over his shoulder, he staggered to his feet and stepped a foot in one of the puddles. He closed his eyes momentarily and focused. A small bolt of lightning landed in the puddle and the energy pulsed through his leg and into his body, his eyes widened with a newfound energy. He sighed and with his trademark smirk he carried Amber out of the village and began hiking up the mountain path.


	5. Saphira

Cody didn’t really mind hiking up mountains, in fact he loved it. Hiking had been a very much loved hobby with his family since he was a little boy. But when he was carrying something that slowed him down, it really irritated him. Hiking was one of the ways that got him to bond slightly with his twin brother who really didn’t like him. Cody will never know why but knowing that his twin brother hated him really upset him. The rocky path would have normally cut off a few toes by now if he was an average citizen of this world. But luckily due to his job as one of the Queen’s subjects, he could afford to buy some footwear that would last him for a long time. His muddy trainers were two months old and they weren’t even showing any signs of wearing down. Cody panted in the heat and swabbed his brow while adjusting his grip on Amber. He felt her move in her forced slumber and sighed, wondering why the Queen would want to recruit a young injured girl like her. Cody had heard several rumours of her when the Queen ordered to round up anybody that could fight for her, particularly those in the Enhanced or Sorcery category. Cody’s ears pricked up in alert when he heard some gravel roll down the slope. He stopped suddenly and looked up, seeing that he had nearly reached the peak of the mountain. His nose twitched as a familiar smell passed and he sighed.  
‘Come on out, I know you’re there,’ he called out tiredly ‘There’s no use in hiding, you know. I can smell you a mile away if I tried hard enough.’ There was a tired sigh and a young thin girl in her early teens came out from behind the rugged rocks on the top of the mountain, staring at him with her bright blue eyes. Her hair was as blue as the day sky, tied up messily in a high ponytail. She had sky blue bangs framing her young pale face which was marred with nasty scars, old and fresh. Cody sighed as he approached her and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. There was roughly about a foot’s difference between the two of them in height. ‘You’re a long way from home, you know that?’ The girl’s eyes hardened.  
‘So are you, you idiot,’ she countered sharply with a snarl ‘Come on, please come back home, Cody, I really miss you. We all miss you. And we all want you to come back home, where you belong.’ She went up to him and stared up at his face with a determined look. When she got no response, she pouted adorably and widened her bright blue eyes to look like she was about to cry if he refused to come back home with her. Cody turned away slightly to try and avoid eye contact before looking at her face. Their eyes eventually connected with one another and Cody sighed, lying Amber down beside him.  
‘We’ve been through this so many times, Saphira,’ he said resignedly while cracking his neck and knuckles effortlessly ‘How many times do I have to tell you? I can’t come home. You should know the consequences of me leaving the Queen’s forces. I’m sorry, but your safety is more important than me.’ Saphira mirrored his actions, her cracks not as loud as his.  
‘Oh, I know alright, but I’m persistent,’ she said determinedly as she shook her hands out ‘It really upsets me when I see Aunt Zephyr grow upset when she realises that you’re gone. There’s nothing you can do to stop me from bringing you home. I will bring you home today, Cody, even if I have to drag you back unconscious.’  
‘You’re so annoyingly stubborn, do you know that?’ Cody sighed wearily while rolling his eyes and began to bounce on the balls of his feet ‘And very foolish to ignore my warnings. I am much healthier and stronger than you, I can easily defeat you in battle. I’ve told you enough times already, Saph. I can’t come home. There’s nothing you can do to make me come back home with you.’   
‘How can you say that, you useless idiot?!’ Saphira shouted at him, her voice cracking and real tears forming in her eyes this time ‘I’ve just heard from my sisters and they’ve told me that Mikhail’s run away too because life is too hard! Even he misses you, Cody!’  
‘You’re lying!’ Cody roared glaring at Saphira and letting electricity crackle over his body ‘Mikhail doesn’t care about me at all! He never has and if he did, I’m sure I’d know by now! He doesn’t care that I’m working for the Queen and he won’t care if I was told to kill him or something!’  
‘You don’t have the will to kill anything unless you’re hungry!’ Saphira argued with a snarl ‘Of course Mikhail won’t be swayed if you’re told to kill him! You rarely passed the hunting tests at school because you were hardly ever hungry enough to murder a small mouse!’  
‘You, you little…’ Cody’s voice suddenly dropped down a few tones when he muttered a curse word and anger flashed in his dark golden eyes ‘You will regret those words, Saphira. Mark my words.’  
Thunder rumbled over them as black clouds engulfed his side of the mountain. His eyes flashed as he smirked confidently, standing tall to show off his dominance and strength because he was working for the Queen and therefore healthier than the younger girl in front of him. Saphira’s eyes flashed brilliantly as dark grey and black clouds engulfed her side, an icy wind blowing past them. They both snapped their heads up to the rapidly blackening sky, howling their individual howls. After Cody’s deeper and blood-curdling howl, his figure grew bulkier and hairier, bright golden fur coating his skin. After Saphira’s higher and ear-splitting howl, her figure grew out of her brown shirt and white shorts, leaving enough material to cover her chest and below her hips, growing into a bulky figure but didn’t grow as much as Cody. Bright blue fur encased her body as her icy blue eyes locked with Cody’s golden ones. The young werewolves began to circle each other warily, their maws open and tongues lolled out. Cody was the first to lunge for his opponent and yelped as ice spread across his path and he slipped, landing face first. Saphira sighed and shook her head as she iced Cody down to the ground.   
‘You’re such an idiot,’ she said as she walked over him and bent down to examine Amber curiously.   
Behind her unnoticed, her ice began to crack as Cody puffed and huffed in his icy jail to make it warm, while steadily building up his strength while swelling up. The ice began to weaken from his steamed breath and began melting, making it easier to crack. Cody suddenly arched his back sharply and howled at full volume in triumph as he broke out of the chilling prison, sharp shards of melting ice flying everywhere. Saphira jumped back to her feet with a surprised yelp and lunged for him once she saw that he was free from the ice, her jaws wide open and sinking deep into Cody’s neck.   
Cody snarled viciously in outrage, ripping out of her grip violently once she had a hold of him and they began attacking each other violently and aggressively, their claws digging into each other’s skin while their teeth sunk deep into each other’s limbs. Saphira’s high pitched yelps filled the air accompanied by his deep pained growls. They rolled around in the dirt, gravel and mud violently as lightning and hail began to strike them mercilessly from the darkened sky. Blood splattered around them as hail hit Cody’s bleeding wounds whilst lightning hit Saphira’s body, making her sky blue fur go up in static electricity and painfully numbing her old and fresh wounds. Saphira’s jaws immediately clamped down tightly on Cody’s arm and Cody howled deafeningly, wrenching away from her, pulling out a tooth from her mouth. The pristine white tooth was deep in his skin and he snarled, turning his back and running down the mountain and through the dead forest that awaited him.   
Saphira watched him go with laboured breath and slowly shrunk back into her human form, rubbing her bloody jaw tenderly. She hissed in pain and spat out the blood that began pooling in her mouth. She began wiping away the blood on her face and licked her wounds clean. Her torn clothes covered her decency and allowed the cold mountain air to slip through and rip her precious body warmth away from her. Worming a finger into her mouth gingerly, she felt the gummy gap in her lower jaw where a tooth had once been a few minutes ago. She snarled softly, cursing her idiot of a cousin and continued cleaning her wounds sorely while licking away the rest of the blood on her face. She melted a few hailstones in her hand for water and briefly quenched her thirst. She turned to Amber wearily and crawled over once the rain, hail and lightning stopped hitting her to get a good look at her. She slumped next to her groggily and yawned deeply with a loud sigh. Spotting the blanket around Amber, she immediately untied it from her and spotted the bandages which only covered her undeveloped body. Blinking, she threw the blanket over the both of them, snuggled up to Amber and closed her eyes, falling fast asleep.

***

When Amber groggily woke up, she immediately grabbed the person who was snuggled against her and rolled over them, her hands at their neck. Light blue eyes flew open immediately and met with her amber ones. Amber’s eyes scanned the light and dark scars across the girl’s face steadily and carefully and came to the conclusion that she had been through a rough time lately and was very less likely to be an enemy of hers. Some scars and wounds were fairly fresh with dried blood coating them while others were steadily but surely healing. Amber also saw signs that some of the cuts were infected.   
‘Who are you and why are you here?’ Amber demanded harshly, eyeing the younger girl below her untrustworthily with narrowed amber eyes. The young girl held her breath as she looked up at her and sighed.  
‘Saphira,’ she replied simply ‘Who are you?’  
‘Amber,’ Amber replied and looked around ‘What happened to the other guy?’  
‘Cody’s gone, I chased him away earlier.’ Amber gave Saphira a disbelieving look.  
‘You did?’ she said whilst raising an eyebrow.  
‘Yup,’ Saphira smiled somewhat ‘Cody would never hurt me.’  
‘Why not?’ Amber asked in a low tone with a growl as her hands pressed down a bit more firmly through impulse on Saphira’s neck. Saphira choked slightly and grabbed Amber’s wrists to relieve some of the pressure.  
‘Because he’s my cousin,’ she replied and when Amber’s eyes flashed she quickly spoke ‘I’m trying to get him to stop working for the Queen and come back home!’ Amber froze and narrowed her eyes.  
‘What happened?’ she asked doubtfully ‘Why is he working for the Queen and why are you trying to stop him?’ Saphira sighed as tears shone in her eyes.  
‘Because he was press-ganged into the whole thing,’ she replied softly ‘He ran away from home one week before the Queen rose to power with her Nightmare Blanket and then he came back to try and recruit us into her work…’ She sniffed shakily and shook her head to shake away her tears. ‘I know he’s been forced into it because there are scars on his back…’  
‘Scars?’ Amber pressed on and leaned into Saphira warily ‘What scars?’  
‘I know when a cat-o-nine tails is used,’ Saphira sobbed and raised a hand to wipe her tears away ‘I saw them before he ran away. Cody would never do anything like this on his own free will, never I swear! Sure, he’s eager to meet new friends but he’s way too scared to try anything new and admittedly, he’s a bit of a wimp.’ Amber remained still and sighed, leaning back and letting her go.  
‘Why do you care about him so much?’ she asked with a frown ‘If he ran away from home then he must have a good reason, surely.’  
‘I love him, he’s the best cousin I could ever want,’ Saphira glowered at Amber with a snarl ‘Yes, he’s a bit of a dumb blond idiot but I like him for who he is.’ Amber rolled her eyes and folded her arms, unimpressed.  
‘Well when I saw him before he knocked me out, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who is a dumb idiot,’ she commented with a distasteful sneer ‘In fact, he looked like someone who could murder an innocent man on the spot.’  
‘He isn’t like that, really,’ Saphira snarled at her ‘He’s just really good at acting like he’s tough when he’s really a soft lovable wimp with the IQ of a recently born Abnormal creature.’ Amber snorted in amusement.  
‘I guess he had that kind of trait about him,’ she sighed ‘He certainly liked to flirt with the nurses too.’  
‘Acting,’ Saphira sighed tiredly ‘He’s terrified of girls.’ Amber laughed and sighed, shaking her head. She then put on her poker face and levelled Saphira’s gaze suspiciously.  
‘So, you’ve been chasing him all this time?’ she asked warily with a disbelieving raised eyebrow ‘Since before the Queen with her Nightmare Blanket even came and took over the world?’ Saphira nodded solemnly with a sigh and a pout as she rubbed away the remnants of her tears while massaging her stiff neck. ‘Then you’ve been to the Queen’s tower before?’ Saphira tilted her head to the side.   
‘I’ve been close to it but the defence system nearly fried me like bacon every time I tried to cross the wasteland to get to it…’  
‘Where is it?’ Amber demanded harshly. Saphira giggled and smiled.  
‘You haven’t noticed it yet?’ she said as she turned her head to the side ‘It sure is quite the view from all the way up here. You really can’t miss it.’ Amber followed her gaze slowly and stood up, her jaw slack in awe. A large black tower stood in the middle of a stretch of wasteland. It was blacker than the dawning sky and its shadow was cast over the small village by the dead forest at the foot of the mountain. It was just as big as the mountain and Amber spotted the built in guns and cannons along two sides of the tower. They moved at a 180º horizontal movement so anyone who tried to cross would always be seen by them, no matter what position they were in. They were stacked on top of each other so no matter what distance, anyone on the dry wasteland could be shot at. She stood up and stared at it.   
‘That’s the Queen’s Tower?’ she said as Saphira got up, brushing herself down.  
‘One of them,’ Saphira corrected as she stood beside Amber while staring at it ‘She has plenty of towers around the world. This is the one she’s currently residing in.’ Amber stared at it before turning to her.  
‘And you’ve failed to get to it,’ she said. Saphira sighed and nodded. Amber frowned and turned to her. ‘What’s the problem?’  
‘You see,’ Saphira said as she gestured to the guns and cannons on the sides of the towers ‘Every time I’ve tried to cross, they would swivel round towards me instantly and try to shoot me down to stop me from reaching the tower.’ Amber winced as she stepped back.  
‘I hate guns, it’s cheating if you use one in battle,’ she murmured ‘Your opponent won’t be able to stand a chance if you can attack from afar.’ Saphira chuckled.  
‘My younger sister uses one for fighting,’ she said wistfully with a thoughtful smile ‘She prefers to fight in her human form instead of her wolf form because she doesn’t like being feral. She says it makes her look vulgar. She’s always been vain about her appearance, no matter what the situation is.’ Amber shivered softly with a quick chatter of her teeth when a chilly wind passed and Saphira picked up the used thin blanket to drape over her nearly nude body. Amber hugged it around her tightly to make herself warm then turned to glance at Saphira’s torn clothing. She frowned in disapproval as Saphira pulled her torn shirt up more to cover more of her skin.  
‘You have it,’ she said as she began to take it off.  
‘No, you’re in nothing but bandages,’ Saphira waved her away.  
‘You’re in nothing but rags,’ Amber tried to push the blanket into Saphira’s hands.  
‘You got injured by my idiotic cousin.’  
‘You’re younger,’ Amber remarked smugly with a smirk.  
‘Hey!’ Saphira pouted and sighed ‘My twelfth birthday is just next week…’  
‘Then have it!’ Amber insisted and tied her up in the blanket ‘I’m in the Enhanced Category, I can survive as long as we get down this mountain.’ Saphira rolled her eyes as she untied the blanket and threw it over Amber.  
‘Don’t worry, I’m a werewolf, I can go into tame mode with a sort of healthy coat of warm fuzzy fur.’ Amber pulled the blanket away from her face and saw as Saphira curled up and shrunk in size. Her nose stretched into a snout and petite wolf ears popped out of her head. Her skin was replaced with brilliant blue fur and she stood up as blue wolf with bright blue eyes. She sat down and lolled her bright pink tongue out happily, her tail wagging playfully as she stared up at Amber adoringly with her bright blue eyes. Amber blinked and sighed in defeat, draping the blanket around her body.   
‘Come on,’ she said as they began to descend the mountain ‘We might as well get a move on before we both die from the cold.’ Saphira barked happily, her tail wagging as she padded alongside Amber.


	6. The Croft's Raven

‘I’ve never been on a slope like this,’ Amber muttered as she kept on skidding and falling on the slope.   
Saphira just lolled her tongue out happily, wagging her tail as she pricked her ears up inquisitively whenever she heard a sound. She withdrew her tongue and perked up fully, staring to the side when she heard something that sounded like a mouse squeak. She wandered off the path curiously, unknown to Amber, and jumped in between the boulders that stood by the pathway, growling when she found a small brown mouse and kicked up some dust to try and catch it. When Amber turned around, she blinked when she saw Saphira right behind her, the mouse dangling from its tail in her mouth. She frowned.  
‘Put it down, it might be carrying something,’ she said ‘You know how a lot of diseases spread and that mouse might have a new incurable one.’ Saphira whimpered, flattening her ears and dropping the mouse sheepishly. The mouse squeaked as it landed on the ground and scampered off. Amber blinked curiously at it. ‘I wonder how a small thing like that managed to survive out here.’ Saphira sat down, staring up at Amber with round blue eyes. Amber’s lips quirked as she continued to walk down the mountain. Saphira perked up and followed her eagerly.  
Amber winced painfully as she stepped on a jagged rock with her bare foot then stubbed her toe when she moved it away. She whined and hopped about, biting her lip to prevent any curses that she had learnt off her father. Saphira whimpered and licked her toe compassionately and Amber shook her gently foot out to shake away the pain. Saphira flattened her ears and gently pushed Amber into the direction of a rock that was big enough for the both of them to sit down on. Sighing, Amber sat down on the rock and wiped the sweat off her brow with a tired sigh. Saphira lay her head on her lap and Amber smiled, tickling her ears. Saphira lolled her tongue out happily and began wagging her tail when Amber began to ignore the pain throbbing in her foot. Amber sighed and leaned back, wiping her sweaty brow.  
‘I’m exhausted, we’ve been at it for about three hours, surely?’ she moaned as Saphira grew into her human form and sat beside her tiredly ‘I swear it looked so easy going up and down mountains according to my father’s stories of his missions.’ Saphira took out an icicle from her torn pocket and offered it to her. Amber glanced at it warily. ‘What is that for? It looks dangerous…’ Saphira laughed.  
‘It can be but at this size and sharpness, it wouldn’t do much harm so you don’t have to worry about that little detail. Haven’t you seen an icicle before during winter? There were lots of them around my home and I collected them all the time when I was a little girl,’ she said with a small reminiscing smile and when Amber shook her head she gasped ‘What, seriously? You’ve never see frozen water before? Not even a sheet of ice over water? You must have at least seen some snow perhaps? Come on, if you haven’t seen any form of ice, you’ve got to be kidding me…’ She pouted disappointedly when Amber showed no signs of recognition. ‘You have not had a proper winter if you haven’t seen frozen water.’  
‘Water can freeze?’ Amber said with a bewildered frown and poked the icicle warily ‘I never thought that could be possible…’ Saphira gaped and then realised while smacking a hand against her forehead.  
‘Oh, I completely forgot about your upbringing! You grew up in a village in the middle of a desert so ice must be foreign to you!’ She giggled to herself and held the icicle up to the sweltering hot sun and above Amber. ‘Tilt your head up and open your mouth wide.’ Amber did so and water began dripping into her mouth. She let the water fall into her mouth until the icicle was half melted and swallowed, grateful from the drink. Saphira giggled as Amber spotted that she had dribbled slightly onto the blanket. Amber grimaced and wiped her mouth with the blanket before smiling at Saphira.  
‘Thanks for that, I appreciate it,’ Amber said as she licked her chapped lips gratefully and wiped more sweat off her brow. Saphira smiled sympathetically and devoured the rest of the icicle.   
‘So, you’re looking for your father?’ she said tilting her head to the side ‘Sounds like a tough quest if you’re going to go to the Queen about it.’  
‘Yeah,’ Amber nodded ‘Mother is safe at my friend’s home but I have no idea where my little brother is. I hope he’s alright, he gets distressed very easily.’ Saphira smiled kindly and placed a hand on Amber’s shoulder.  
‘Well, you only have a little brother to worry for,’ she sighed ‘I have two triplet sisters, both who are younger than me. I have double trouble when I worry about them. One is enough but two can be quite a problem if you’re the eldest.’  
‘And I suppose you know where both of them are then?’ Amber smirked knowingly with a raised eyebrow. Saphira giggled and winked.  
‘They should be faking the fact that I’m there with them,’ she whispered with a mischievous smirk ‘I gave Teresa, the middle sister, a wig made out of my fur. She decided to dye her hair into a variety of colours so we look nothing alike now. It was a bit of a shock from our father, he loved Teresa’s hair in particular. The youngest, Victoria, looks like me, but she isn’t that good at acting. All she needs to do is pretend that she’s keeping fit by going outside and staying out for about half an hour.’ Amber giggled.  
‘I guess that lets you take advantage of having triplet sisters then,’ she grinned ‘I wish I had a twin sister. I would have loved to have that twin bond and confuse my parents whenever I had the chance.’  
‘Yeah,’ Saphira sighed wistfully with a thoughtful smile ‘I love my sisters a lot. I hope they’re not missing me too much. I know that I’m missing them.’ Amber smiled as she stared up at the sky.   
‘Well I know that I’m missing my baby brother,’ she sighed thoughtfully ‘I bet he’s missing me quite a bit too.’ Saphira grinned and turned to her.  
‘You must really love him, right?’ she said ‘I would like to meet him, he sounds cuter than Cody.’   
‘He is,’ Amber said immediately ‘There is nothing cuter than Jasper. But don’t tell him that, he’ll throw a tantrum. But that makes him even cuter.’ Saphira began laughing loudly and sighed, shaking her head with a wide smile. They both quietly sat for a while, regaining their strength until Saphira perked up suddenly. An unfamiliar piercing screech entered Amber’s hearing range and they both looked at each other with confused looks. It came again and Amber’s brows furrowed when she failed to recognize what creature it came from and what kind of screech it was.  
‘What was that?’ Saphira paled as she stared up the mountain.   
‘A Croft’s Raven…’ she whispered softly.  
‘A what?’ Saphira gaped at Amber.  
‘You’ve never seen a Croft’s Raven in the desert?’ she asked in disbelief with wide eyes ‘They’re known to be quite common in barren places…’ When Amber shook her head, Saphira groaned softly, grabbed her and pulled her behind one of the large boulders, shaking with slight fright. Amber looked at the ground when a large shadow swooped over them then looked up, her jaw dropping in astonishment. A giant black bird with red and green tips on the feathers of its wings flew across the mountain and perched on a large grey boulder a few metres away from them. Saphira’s breathing was quickened, faint and light as Amber stared at it in wonder. She had never seen anything like it. It was much bigger than the small village she lived in and its wing span was roughly five metres long. Its beak was black and pointed white teeth could be seen when it opened that beak to let out a caw. Its caw was ear-splitting. It echoed throughout the wasteland and Amber covered her ears to avoid damaging her sensitive hearing while Saphira let out a small pained whimper and bared it. Its dark green eyes shone in the sunlight and scanned the area, ready to strike down any prey. Its large golden talons gripped the boulder it was perched on and slowly rolled it away, its head craned to look down at what was beneath. Saphira let out a growl suddenly and Amber craned her neck to see what was underneath. Her golden red eyes widened suddenly when she saw a young woman with black hair and pale skin underneath the boulder, her leg mangled and bloody.  
‘Xeann!’ she gasped and lurched forward but Saphira held her down firmly. The Croft’s Raven turned its head sharply when Amber made an annoyed grunt and scanned the area carefully before bending down to peck at the limp vampire. Xeann made no moves to indicate that she was alive and Amber tried to lunge forward to rescue her but was pulled back by Saphira again. ‘Let me go!’ Amber snapped with a harsh whisper at the young werewolf.  
‘Don’t make any sudden movements,’ Saphira hushed Amber as they watched ‘It’ll get you if you do that. I can’t believe it! Croft’s Ravens shouldn’t be that big! The Nightmare Blanket must have altered it…’  
‘My friend is over there,’ Amber whispered as she nodded to Xeann ‘She’s the one who took me to Vigour Village in the first place.’ Saphira glanced back and bared her teeth when she saw the sight of her.  
‘You’re friends with a vampire?’ she whispered venomously ‘Are you actually being serious about this?’ Amber held up her hands in alarm when she remembered vampires and werewolves did not get along well. Saphira sighed and shook her head. ‘I’m going to risk my life for a vampire,’ she murmured to herself ‘My dad’s going to kill me for sure if he finds out. …Although, he is going to kill me if he finds out that I’ve been running off to get Cody for four months anyway…’ Amber winced and covered her ears when another deafening caw echoed through the air. Both girls looked from behind their hiding place and gaped as Xeann clung onto the Croft’s Raven’s feathers, one of her curved blades deep in its eye. The large bird took off into the air and flew around blindly in an attempt to shake Xeann off. Xeann’s grip began to weaken and she pulled her blade out of the eye, causing the Croft’s Raven to screech in pain. She fell and Amber hastily untied the blanket away from her body.   
‘Come on!’ she urged as she threw one end of the blanket to Saphira ‘We have to catch her before she’s hurt even more!’ Saphira, feeling that the threat was significantly less now due to the Croft’s Raven’s blindness and ignoring the fact that she was helping a vampire, took the end of the blanket and the girls ran underneath Xeann to catch her before she would land on the ground. Once Xeann felt her soft landing, her eyes flew open and the first thing she saw was Amber. She lurched forward and hissed in pain as her mauled leg protested against her sudden movements.  
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked sharply as Amber began to tie the blanket around her injury ‘You were supposed to be taken back home!’  
‘I got kidnapped by some werewolf,’ Amber muttered with a soft growl at the memory of Cody ‘Stupid idiot got me when I was still recovering…’ Xeann rounded on Saphira with bared fangs immediately but Amber pulled her away. ‘It was a different werewolf. Saphira rescued me from him.’ Saphira snorted and nodded firmly to confirm that it was true. Xeann gave Saphira a mistrustful look before looking up when she heard an enraged screech from the Croft’s Raven.  
‘I think I might have got it angry,’ she murmured as the Croft’s Raven landed on a boulder, nursing its eye sorely. It turned on them suddenly, blood trickling down the side of its face.  
‘Run!’ Saphira said as she helped Xeann up with Amber and they began running off.  
‘Don’t bother!’ Xeann hissed as she tugged both girls back ‘It’ll catch us anyway and we’ll make it angrier! Angry Croft’s Ravens means more painful deaths for its prey and victims.’  
‘Then what would you suggest then, vampire?’ Saphira snapped at her ‘Would you rather get eaten?’  
‘I suggest you take up a straight blade, not mine, they’re curved, and throw it into its heart, wolf!’ Xeann snapped back.  
‘Does it look like I have a blade on me?!’ Saphira raised her voice.  
‘Saphira, you could make an icicle!’ Amber suddenly snapped her fingers as she got a sudden idea ‘It can be sharp and big enough if you make it like that and it could do the job to finish it off!’ Xeann pulled the girls down to the ground suddenly when the Croft’s Raven swooped to grab them. Its angry deafening caw echoed in the air and Xeann breathed a short sigh of relief as the Croft’s Raven landed on another boulder to tend to its eye more.   
‘That thing can fly faster than sound when it’s angry enough,’ she muttered softly as Saphira stared at Amber.  
‘If you know good enough water source around here that could have me make an icicle big enough to throw and kill a Croft’s Raven, you’d better tell me now because I don’t know how I could make an icicle to kill a giant bird without the right amount of water,’ she said with a raised eyebrow. Amber bit her lip and threw her head up at the sky with a groan when she couldn’t come up with an idea. Xeann looked up and saw the Croft’s Raven land on a boulder with a better view on its prey, still tending to its eye.   
‘So you can control ice then, young wolf?’ she said to Saphira. Saphira nodded stiffly with a soft growl to the vampire. ‘Could you summon hail perhaps or, even better, snow?’ Saphira blinked and straightened up.   
‘I could but it might not last long,’ she murmured, not liking the fact that she was talking to a vampire. Xeann sighed.  
‘Well it might weaken the Croft’s Raven for a short amount of time,’ she said with a firm nod ‘They really hate cold weather. And perhaps you’ll be able to have enough water to make that icicle.’ Saphira sighed and nodded.  
‘Sounds like it might work,’ she said and stood up, throwing her arms in the air. The temperature dropped abruptly that Amber snuggled into Xeann’s cloak immediately to keep herself warm. The Croft’s Raven noticed the drop in temperature and curled itself into a tight ball to preserve its body heat when it began to hail. Xeann pulled her hood up to protect her head from the hail and snow and sheltered Amber in her cloak, her arm around her in a way that reminded Amber of her mother. Amber remembered the sandstorms that would pass through the village on the odd occasion. When she was just a little child, her mother would always bring a blanket around her and her father and they would snuggle into each other to avoid getting sand in their faces. Amber never realised how much she had missed her mother’s embrace. She hugged Xeann back tightly, hiding her face from the world to hide her tears.   
When the hail stopped after ten to fifteen minutes, Saphira crouched down and let the hailstones roll towards her. She melted them and froze them to make a large icicle which she would pick up and hold like a javelin. The Croft’s Raven instantly noticed the change in temperature and unfolded its wings to examine its surroundings. Its good eye swerved around the place and locked onto Saphira, seeing the icicle and immediately detecting the threat. It cawed angrily and its talons picked up the boulder it was perched on and began carrying it towards her. Amber gasped but Saphira didn’t even flinch from the threat. She narrowed her light blue eyes, pulled her arm back carefully and threw the icicle towards the Croft’s Raven. It cut through the air and buried itself deep into the giant bird’s chest. The Croft’s Raven cawed in agony and dropped the boulder it was carrying. Saphira stepped back as the boulder landed in front of her. Blood splattered on the ground beneath the Croft’s Raven and it fell with the boulder, landing a few feet away from Saphira. Amber whimpered softly and Xeann’s eyes flashed.  
‘Feeding time,’ she decided with a nod ‘Finally, I was getting worried that I might go ballistic if I was starved any more. A bloodthirsty vampire is one ugly vampire that no-one would want to meet on the street. Help me up, Amber.’ Amber got to her feet and slung an arm around Xeann to lead her to the dead bird. Saphira was already on top of it in her wolf form, plucking a few feathers off the dead body before getting her maws deep into the flesh and tore at it hungrily, blood spilling and trickling down the large carcass. Amber let Xeann lean against the side of the Croft’s Raven and her eyes widened when she saw Xeann’s sharp white fangs extend and sink into the corpse, drinking the blood thirstily. After a few moments of feeding, Xeann opened her eyes and pulled away, blood trailing down from her mouth. Licking her lips, she turned to Amber. ‘Shall I cut you a slice?’ she offered while taking one of her blades out of one of the sheaths. Amber’s stomach growled for food but Amber seemed unsure.   
‘I don’t think it’s that healthy to eat raw meat,’ she said. She always made sure to cook meat once she had a hold of it back in the village. It wasn’t hard given the heat of the sun… One of the upsides of living in a small village in the middle of a vast desert is that if there is a black out or an unexpected shortage of electricity suddenly happened around the village, all you need to do to cook your food is to leave it out in the sun. The village was too poor to install solar panels so they had to rely on power sources from villages around the outskirts of the desert.  
‘If you fall ill, we’ll deal with it once we reach the next village,’ Xeann shrugged indifferently ‘Now, I’m not really one for scavenging but you really shouldn’t look a gift unicorn in the mouth. Take it from me.’ Amber hunched her shoulders apprehensively before nodding in agreement. Xeann dug her blade into the body and carved out a nice slice of meat. She placed it in Amber’s waiting hands before sinking her fangs deep into the flesh again and continued feeding. Amber stared down at the piece of meat uneasily before ripping a piece off with her teeth and began eating. After a few bites and a swallow, she began to eat it more vigorously.  
‘It isn’t that bad,’ she commented. Xeann pulled away from the corpse and laughed.  
‘No, I don’t think anyone has ever thought of making a dish from a Croft’s Raven,’ she mused thoughtfully ‘No-one has ever considered making any dishes from Abnormal creatures. You know, this blood is really rich and filling, I should bottle some.’ She pulled off a couple of gourds from her belt and began filling them with blood. Amber took Xeann’s other blade to carve some more meat off the bird.   
‘This could last us a few good days!’ Saphira stuck her head out of the hole she had made in the corpse in her human form, licking her lips away from the gore and blood that she had discovered inside the Croft’s Raven. She went into her tame wolf mode and burrowed herself further into the Croft’s Raven, her little blue tail poking out of the hole, wagging delightfully.  
The girls fed on the Croft’s Raven until there was nothing but bones, a pool of blood and organs. Xeann let her cloak be used as a makeshift bag to carry the leftovers for the journey and was helped up by Saphira and Amber.  
‘I do hope the blood will wash off that,’ she sighed in dismay ‘It’s my favourite cloak.’  
‘Now what?’ Saphira huffed as she was in charge of carrying Xeann while Amber held the heavy bundle of meat.  
‘We travel to the town named Magia Town,’ Xeann said and nodded to the dead forest before them ‘We just need to go straight through this forest to reach it.’  
‘Why can’t we go back over the mountain, it’s closer,’ Amber suggested.  
‘With this leg, I’ll only be a burden,’ Xeann said as she nodded to her leg ‘Going downhill will be better and Magia Town might be where Vienna is. And you’ll get a closer look of the Queen’s Tower.’ Saphira shuddered at the mention of the tower.  
‘I hate that tower,’ she whined as they began going through the forest ‘Why does it have to be so impossible to get to?’ Xeann let out a boisterous laugh at her whine and Saphira winced when it assaulted her ears.   
‘You know, honey,’ Xeann grinned at Saphira wickedly ‘Sometimes I wonder if you’re a proper wolf at all if you have a childish whine like that.’  
‘Sometimes I wonder whether you are at all feminine…’ Saphira counteracted with a snarl. Xeann let out a warning hiss in contempt.   
‘Excuse me, you mutt,’ she snarled ‘I am as feminine and civil as you can get with vampires.’  
‘Break it up you two,’ Amber sighed tiredly, realising that it was going to be one long journey with these two ‘If we’re all going to travel together, let’s do it peacefully.’ Both vampire and werewolf growled each other before turning away from each other moodily.


	7. Sheela and Sarah

Amber stared up at the dead white trees in wonder, her mouth slightly ajar as she examined them curiously. She had only seen palm trees before by the oasis and pine trees up the mountains that surrounded the desert. She had never seen dead oak, yew or sycamore trees in her life. Even though they were dead because of the lack of nutrients they got due to the Nightmare Blanket denying them rain, they looked absolutely beautifully. Amber barely remembered palm trees by the oasis. She would always check on them every day during the season that they would bear fruit to see if they were bearing coconuts yet. She was always the first to climb up them in the morning and grab the first bunch of coconuts to sell and feed her family. It was fun to compete and race other children to grab coconuts. She had been planning to teach Jasper on how to climb palm trees…   
Amber clung onto the heavy cloak with the meat from the Croft’s Raven as Saphira carried Xeann in her feral wolf form. She could just hear Saphira muttering darkly about helping a vampire but ignored it, rolling her eyes silently. This was going to be one tough journey if those two wouldn’t push aside their rivalry and focus on working together. She never understood rivalry between categories, she never had any problems with people in the sorcery group back at her village. Although her father was very picky with her friends but she never really questioned it… Amber took one glance at the large blue werewolf. Saphira had grown to about six foot tall on her hind legs, Xeann draped over her shoulder as they walked through the forest. Her tattered shreds had stretched somewhat to accommodate her size. Amber wondered if werewolves often grew into feral form while they were still wearing clothes or if they had certain clothes to wear when they did.  
‘So, vampire, exactly how much longer do we have to go for until we reach this Magia Town?’ Saphira suddenly rumbled moodily to Xeann ‘This forest seems to be taking for ages.’  
‘Just keep on going straight and be patient,’ Xeann replied with a sigh ‘This forest was a paradise for sorcerers and sorceresses once upon a time. Before the Nightmare Blanket took over Ethylias, this forest was full of life, exotic plants, vibrantly coloured flowers and all sorts of magical properties. Those in the sorcery category would practice their spells here and illusions filled the forest from their spells. Because of that, this forest is permanently the home of illusions to make travellers disorientated and lost. The trick is to always go straight, we’ll find an exit eventually. You just need to find a way to be patient or perhaps talking like this could speed things up a bit?’ Saphira grumbled softly to herself and shifted her grip on Xeann.  
‘We’ve been doing this for about an hour, I’m tired and I’m losing my power,’ she complained.  
‘You told us that you’d be able to maintain this form for days,’ Xeann raised an unimpressed eyebrow.  
‘Have you ever heard of exaggeration?’ Saphira asked with a glare.  
‘Guys, stop it,’ Amber cut in curtly. Both vampire and wolf gave each other a short glare before turning away from each other grumpily. Amber rolled her eyes and shifted her grip on the bundle of meat. Her ears suddenly pricked up as she heard what sounded like a karate yell. Saphira’s ears perked up as well, indicating that she had heard it too. They both stopped and looked around suspiciously. Xeann lifted her head as more karate yells were heard in the distance. Amber’s eyes scanned their surroundings guardedly as she placed her bundle of meat down and pulled her fists up to get ready for a fight if needed. She had enough strength to fight, now she was properly healed. Well, sort of properly heal, she was still feeling a little dizzy and weak from the six day coma and the other forced sleep that she was put into by Cody. Saphira stuck her nose up in the air and sniffed.  
‘Can you smell that?’ she asked. Amber stuck her nose up in the air and mimicked her actions. She smelt…flowers? Amber blinked in bewilderment. She hadn’t smelt flowers in over four months and thought that they’d gone extinct in this world. Plus these flowers smelt…odd in a way. Like they were too sweet to be real… She jumped back when something came flying from between the trees. It crashed into Saphira, toppling both her and Xeann over and onto the ground. Saphira turned into her human form and grabbed the person who had crashed into her. It was a very skinny woman, you could see her ribcage, with nothing but a white tank top and white shorts to cover her body. She had short pink hair in a ponytail and bright golden eyes. She looked like she was about eighteen years old. She stared into Saphira’s blue eyes with a surprised look.  
‘Uh…hi,’ she said with a soft smile ‘My name’s Sarah, what’s yours?’ Saphira growled irritably.  
‘Sarah!’ Amber looked up and saw another young woman around the same age, maybe younger, come towards them. She had long silver hair to her ankles, tied up in a plat, and sky blue eyes. She wore a simple plain blue dress with matching tattered slippers for her footwear. She spotted Amber first and stilled fearfully, like a lost child. Her eyes trailed over to Saphira and Sarah before spotting Xeann. She covered her mouth in horror when she spotted Xeann’s injured leg. ‘I apologize for my sister’s abrupt appearance,’ she said as she pulled Sarah out from underneath Saphira.   
‘Who are you two?’ Saphira demanded as she stood up and stood next to Amber.  
‘My name is Sheela,’ Sheela said as she gestured to herself ‘Sarah is my triplet sister…’  
‘There’s another one of you?!’ Saphira jumped back and scanned the area in alert. Sheela placed a hand over her mouth to cover a small titter.  
‘He’s at home,’ she reassured the wary werewolf ‘Looking after our family.’  
‘Then why aren’t you two at home?’ Amber asked curiously. Sheela raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.  
‘Why aren’t you?’ she countered.  
‘I’m looking for my father and the first stop is the Queen’s tower,’ Amber stuck her chin up and puffed her chest out proudly. Sheela nodded before looking at Saphira who snarled softly and sighed.  
‘My cousin is in the Queen’s clutches too,’ she mumbled. Sarah looked at Xeann and blinked.  
‘Uh…your friend is unconscious,’ she said pointing to her. Amber spun on her heel to see Xeann had been knocked aside and into the nearest tree when Sarah collided with Saphira. She knelt by her side to feel her pulse. Nothing, Amber began to panic slightly, there was no pulse to be felt whatsoever. She dropped her head to her chest and pressed her ear to where Xeann’s heart should be and took in a sharp breath when she didn’t hear a heartbeat.  
‘She’s dead!’ she exclaimed and jumped to her feet in alarm.  
‘Well of course she’s dead, she’s a vampire,’ Saphira rolled her eyes.  
‘…Oh.’ Amber had never felt more stupid in her life. ‘So how do I know if she’s OK or not?’  
‘There are a few ways to kill a vampire properly,’ Saphira explained ‘Silver poisoning is the most common and painful one. We don’t have any silver on us and this area is silver free or, being a werewolf, I would have been affected as well. A wooden stake to the heart is also another common way, especially among the top vampire hunters. Does she have a stake in her heart at the moment? No, I don’t think so. Baptism is very useful and effective but it is a very uncommon way to get rid of a vampire. Does anyone have any holy water on them to baptise her? No, because nothing is holy on this godforsaken planet anymore. Lack of blood is a pretty good way to kill a vampire. But come on, we’ve just feasted on a full grown Croft’s Raven, she surely can’t be starved. Any other ways to kill a vampire do not apply to this situation.’ Amber blinked and sighed with relief.   
‘So she’s just exhausted,’ she concluded ‘Thank goodness…’  
‘Anyway, what about you two?’ Saphira rounded on Sheela and Sarah suddenly ‘Why are you away from your home?’ Sarah looked at Sheela and Sheela sighed.  
‘Two of our younger sisters have gotten kidnapped by the Queen’s henchmen,’ Sheela replied with a forlorn look ‘We’re travelling to the Queen’s tower to get them or at least find out where they are and what happened to them. They’re only fifteen years old which is why we’re so worried and they’re so far from home. We’ve come from Nubis Metropolis by Mt Sky, northwest from here. However, someone here got us lost through this forest despite my advice to go around it.’ Sheela gave Sarah an accusing look and Sarah grinned sheepishly with a shrug.   
‘But I really thought I could get us through,’ she said softly. Sheela rolled her eyes and faced Saphira and Amber.  
‘May we join you?’ she asked ‘We’ve been stuck in this forest for five days.’  
‘It’s been five days? Really now? I thought it was three,’ Sarah frowned blankly and rubbed her head thoughtfully. Sheela rolled her eyes again as Amber smiled softly.  
‘Sure thing,’ she said and bent down to pick up the bundle of meat ‘We kind of need extra help with Xeann…’ Her hands found nothing and when Amber looked around, she couldn’t find the bundle of meat she had placed down a moment ago. Jumping to her feet in alarm, Amber looked around again then stared at Saphira with wide eyes. ‘The meat from the Croft’s Raven is gone!’ Saphira’s eyes widened and looked around to check if Amber was just having sight problems.   
‘Illusions,’ she muttered mostly to herself ‘This forest is full of them because of the countless experiments that were conducted here. Damn, I’ve always hated sorcerers and sorceresses. It must be here somewhere.’ Sheela folded her arms sternly with a disapproving frown at Saphira’s dislike towards her category. Saphira crouched down like a wolf and began sniffing around, circling the same spot and sighed. ‘I can’t smell it,’ she said ‘I’m sure the illusions only affect your sight…’  
‘The illusions in this forest mask all of your senses,’ Sheela explained as she looked around the place, noticing that a few other changes had been made in the scenery ‘I’ll try and ward them off.’ She pushed the sleeves of her dress up and flexed her fingers, clicking them into place. She closed her eyes in concentration and focused all of her energy through the palms of her hands. Amber could feel energy pulsing through the area and through her body and mind. Sheela was swaying softly and Amber could feel the energy increasing and decreasing, realising that Sheela was quite unstable with her power. Amber could easily tell that Sheela was a sorceress, but she could be wrong. But still, the power that Amber felt flow through her as Sarah cast the spell, it was unimaginable. Sarah caught Sheela as the scenery eventually changed. Amber gasped as she saw the bundle of meat by her feet and grabbed it almost immediately. Sheela leaned on Sarah for support, her head spinning. Sarah stared at the bundle curiously.   
‘What kind of meat have you got?’ she asked.  
‘It’s from a Croft’s Raven,’ Saphira replied.  
‘Ew, gross!’ Sarah pulled a face and stuck her tongue out.  
‘Actually it’s quite nice,’ Amber mused ‘Even if you eat it raw, it’s really not that bad.’  
‘So, out of curiosity,’ Sarah pointed a finger to Amber ‘Which category are you in?’  
‘Enhanced,’ Amber replied.  
‘Oh my gosh, really?! No way, that’s the same here with me!’ Sarah squealed in a high pitch that made Saphira wince, as she abruptly dropped Sheela and hugged Amber so tightly, Amber gasped for air, picking her up off the ground then spinning her around gleefully ‘We could probably even be something like long lost spiritual sisters or blood related cousins or something cool like that! That’s like so super cool!’ Saphira winced as Sheela made solid impact with the ground without her sister for support, making a loud echoing thud. Sarah heard her sister fall and gasped, dropping poor Amber just as abruptly as she had dropped poor Sheela. Amber grunted painfully as she landed on her behind harshly and rubbed it tenderly with a wary look at Sarah. ‘Oh my gosh, I’m sorry, Sheela!’ Sarah turned and roughly pulled Sheela up to support her again. ‘Are you OK there, sis?’ Saphira gently helped Amber up and dusted her down. Sheela rubbed her temple with a moan.   
‘I’m fine, sort of,’ she grumbled.  
‘So which category are you in?’ Amber asked tilting her head to the side.  
‘Sorcery,’ Sheela rubbed her temples gently as she replied ‘Advanced but I need to control how much power I use. My energy drains easily…’  
‘Shall we go then?’ Saphira suggested as she helped Xeann up ‘You look like you need some medical attention too.’ Everyone nodded in agreement and Amber bit her lip.  
‘Which direction do we go in though?’ she asked.  
‘Straight on, no turning.’ The abrupt answer from Xeann was entirely unexpected and most of the girls jumped in fright, Saphira nearly dropping the vampire. Xeann grunted irritably when she nearly fell and furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance when Saphira adjusted her to a more comfortable position. Sarah bit her lip sheepishly and hid behind Sheela. They all looked at the vampire as she pointed in a direction while keeping her eyes closed. ‘Straight on down that way, now move it. And don’t you dare turn in any direction or we’ll get hopelessly lost. Walk through trees if you must, just walk straight on without stopping.’  
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Saphira grunted as they began going down the random direction Xeann had pointed them in. Sarah stayed behind Sheela as she eyed Xeann warily.  
‘Sheela, she’s scary,’ she whispered softly but not so discretely to her sister.  
‘I can hear you, you know,’ Xeann said without opening her eyes. Sarah yelped and fell over on a tree root when she was caught off guard. Amber winced and helped her up.  
‘Don’t worry,’ she assured Sarah ‘You’ll get used to her eventually.’  
‘But she’s scarier than any other vampire I’ve met before…’ Sarah whined as they continued walking through the forest.  
‘And exactly how many vampires have you met before?’ Xeann asked abruptly with furrowing brows. Sarah yelped again then tripped over on another tree root. Amber jumped back slightly, startled as Sarah moaned in pain.  
‘Uh…one?’ she said lifting her head to look at Xeann. Xeann scowled, making Sarah wince in embarrassment.  
‘Never mind,’ the vampire sighed ‘You’d better hurry up or we’ll leave you behind.’  
‘No, don’t do that!’ Sarah shouted as she jumped to her feet and ran after them.  
‘Hey, wait for me!’ Amber called as she scurried after them behind her. A small smile appeared on Xeann’s face as she heard Amber’s little footsteps near them.  
‘You must have travelled far to be here if you’re from Nubis Metropolis,’ she commented to Sheela who walked alongside her ‘Nubis Metropolis is pretty hard to reach and get out of because of the harsh conditions in the mountains that it’s built on, am I correct?’ Sheela smiled and shrugged.  
‘We’re quite used to it because we often go on hikes up and down the mountains,’ Sheela smiled ‘Every time school isn’t on, we go out on family outings to anywhere we want to go. We’ve been here before the illusions started up in Magia Forest.’  
‘Oh? It was thirteen years ago since the illusions began happening,’ Xeann raised an eyebrow ‘I suppose you were about…five years of age?’ Sheela giggled and nodded.  
‘Sarah doesn’t remember much about it though,’ she said sadly ‘She never seems to live in the past or reflect on the actions she does. She just carries on without a care in the world.’ She sighed and turned around when Sarah fell over another tree root and Amber scrambled to pick her up. ‘She doesn’t learn much about how to avoid accidents.’ Xeann lifted her head when she heard Sarah crash into a tree.  
‘I gathered that,’ she said with a smile.  
‘Hey, don’t mind me asking, why are you keeping your eyes closed?’ Saphira asked with a raised eyebrow. Xeann opened her blood red eyes and turned over to the werewolf.  
‘Closing my eyes helps me preserve energy,’ she said ‘The less light I see, the more efficient I work. That applies to all Dark creatures, including you.’ Saphira snorted as she turned to face forward.  
‘Well don’t expect me to do that,’ she said ‘Unless you want me to crash.’  
‘It would help pass the time but I would appreciate it if you kept your eyes open,’ Xeann smirked as she closed her eyes again. Saphira snorted as she kept on heaving Xeann over through the forest while Sarah constantly kept on tripped up by tree roots.


	8. Magia Town

‘I can see an exit!’ Sarah perked up immediately with a bright smile when she saw a parting in the trees. She abruptly dropped Sheela, leaving Amber to support both her and Xeann with Saphira and sprinted out gleefully. Amber winced sympathetically when she heard the pink haired girl trip up and exclaim her pain loudly. Sheela sighed tiredly, rolling her eyes as they eventually reached the exit of the forest. Before them lay a terraced pathway and at the bottom of the pathway was a small town. Beyond that town was a vast amount of wasteland and in the middle of that wasteland stood the Queen’s Tower. Sarah had fallen down one of the slopes of the terraced pathway and was sprawled across the pathway in a clumsy fashion. Saphira raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sheela.  
‘Is she always like this or does she like to trip over a lot?’ she asked curiously.  
‘She’s always like this unfortunately,’ Sheela sighed ‘The day just doesn’t pass without her having an accident.’  
‘I’m OK!’ Sarah shouted from her place.  
‘You don’t look OK,’ Amber commented.  
‘Oh it’s just a twisted arm, it’s nothing too serious or big! Sheela can easily fix it, I hope. But I do still feel bright and healthy!’ Amber tilted her head to the side curiously when she heard Sarah sound rather happy about her injury. As if to prove a point, Sarah immediately jumped up to her feet and began running around, doing a sort of dance before tripping over and falling down the next cliff. Xeann raised her eyebrows in amusement.  
‘Well that didn’t last long,’ she commented.  
‘I’m still OK!’ Sarah’s voice rang out. Sheela sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose irritably.  
‘Come on, let’s get going,’ Saphira said as they began to descend down the pathway the safe way.

***

‘Oh, Magia Town,’ Xeann sighed wistfully as they reached the small town ‘I never thought I would see it this lively.’ There was a heavy sarcastic tone in her voice as she looked around the town. Abandoned and wrecked stalls stood along each side of the street they stood in front of them and dusty pathways separated the ruined houses. Sheela looked around with a sad look.  
‘We used to come to spend our summer here every year,’ she whispered softly ‘It had such a happy and joyous atmosphere.’ Amber looked around before spotting a green cross on a building.  
‘Well, let’s see if anyone’s in,’ she said while nodding to it. Saphira grunted in affirmation as she and Amber dragged Xeann down the road to the ruined building. Sarah looked around curiously with a sad nostalgic look then jumped when a hand slapped itself on her shoulder. She turned, pushing the hand off her shoulder and brought her fists up. Sheela stopped when she heard her sister’s familiar karate yell and the familiar dull thuds of her punches landing on a body. She turned and gasped when she saw Sarah fighting a larger man with bulging muscles and a shaggy beard on his face. Amber and Saphira stopped abruptly when men, all shapes and sizes, blocked their path to the medical centre. Xeann looked up and smirked.   
‘Oh, more scavengers,’ she said ‘I thought I left them back at Eventide Town.’  
‘You certainly have come a long way then,’ one tall and lanky man commented wryly after taking a drag from his cigarette. Xeann smirked and shrugged.  
‘Maybe,’ she said with a coy smile ‘Do you have a map?’ Amber winced as Sarah fell her rather large opponent. Sarah stood on top of him triumphantly with her hands on her hips, only to spot his friends closing in on her. Xeann reached for one curved blade and held it up, using Amber as support. ‘I can take you guys on any time,’ she said despite the pain in standing on her squashed leg.  
‘You’re one crazy vampire,’ Saphira commented wryly as she turned into her feral wolf form ‘Come on, you ugly lot! I’ll take you guys on!’ Amber stepped back cautiously and held her fists up warily after putting down the cloak with meat. She hadn’t taken on any opponents as big as these men. Everyone began to close on them as the girls prepared to fight.   
‘Mum! Mum, is that you?’ Everyone froze and the men turned round to let a young man in his twenties, with shaggy black hair and bright sea-green eyes stumble out of the crowd and stand in front of Xeann. ‘It really is you!’ he exclaimed happily. Xeann blinked in bewilderment.   
‘Damon! Is that really you?!’ she exclaimed with a wide smile and held out her arms wide to hug her second eldest son. Damon tightly hugged her immediately, picking her up easily so the pressure was off her injured leg. ‘How long has it been now?’ she asked ‘Forty years?’   
‘No, mum, half a century,’ Damon replied as the men stepped back.  
‘Do you know these girls, Damon?’ one of them asked warily. Damon turned round and shrugged.  
‘I just know that this is definitely my mum,’ he said then glanced at the other girls ‘But I don’t know who these lot are…’  
‘They’re with me,’ Xeann said immediately ‘We were all travelling here to find a place to stay and try to get to the Queen’s Tower.’ A murmur spread through the group of men until one man cleared his throat.  
‘Do ya think that’s a wise idea?’ he said ‘Anyone who’s gone across the wasteland to the tower has gotten shot down. Anyone lucky enough to manage to reach the tower, never comes back. You’ll never be able to survive.’  
‘Damon, Vienna’s run away,’ Xeann grabbed Damon by the shirt ‘Her parents have disappeared too, have you seen her around here?’ Damon sighed biting his lip, and shaking his head.  
‘I haven’t seen her since her twelfth birthday,’ he said.  
‘What about Bianca?’ Xeann’s grip tightened ‘Have you seen your tenth youngest half-sister?’  
‘No, mum. I’ve only seen Seito and he’s just left to go home and look after you since the Nightmare Blanket came.’ Xeann sighed and covered her face.  
‘My family is such a mess,’ she sniffed and blinked back her tears.  
‘Wait, mum, I thought you were pregnant?’ Damon noted Xeann’s rather flat belly.  
‘Gave birth a little earlier than I had hoped because of the Nightmare Blanket,’ Xeann sniffed and sighed ‘She’s a little healthy girl but she’s been born blind. Her name’s Cassandra.’  
‘And another one to add to the family,’ Damon rolled his eyes then looked down as Xeann’s leg began to drip with blood ‘Mum, you’re bleeding!’  
‘Well we can only have enough rags to use for bandages nowadays,’ Saphira rolled her eyes after she shrunk to her human form ‘Stupid vampires. Go on, get her inside so we can change them!’ Damon, politely ignoring Saphira’s snide comment, rushed into the medical building everyone following him closely.  
‘Madison!’ Damon called as he stormed through the doors and corridors ‘Quick, come down here! You have a patient who’s in need of some serious wound binding here!’  
‘I have hundreds of patients, Damon!’ a shrill woman’s voice shrieked, making Amber wince, as they finally came to a spare room ‘Stop thinking that I can tend to fifty patients at once! I know I’m good, Damon honey, but I’m not that good!’  
‘This one’s my mum!’ Damon called in a singsong voice with a knowing smirk as he laid Xeann down on the bed and lifted her leg gently to look at it ‘You know how you’ve always wanted to see her! Hurry up before she passes out from loss of blood.’ Suddenly a girly squeal was heard, making both Amber and Saphira cringe and there was a light pattering of feet from upstairs.  
‘Well why didn’t you say so before? I could have come a little bit quicker if you had told me sooner…’ a woman in her thirties came in and looked from Xeann to Damon closely ‘Oh my lord, now I know where he gets his dastardly good looks from! I wouldn’t mind meeting any of your brothers soon.’ She simpered cheekily and pinched Damon’s cheek harshly, who just grinned painfully and bared it. Amber stepped back and stood behind Sheela warily. She had never seen such a flamboyant woman in her life. She had bright blue eyes and ginger curls framing her pretty face. She looked a tad ill, or maybe she just didn’t have enough sun, and was about six foot tall.   
‘Madison, she has a mangled leg,’ Damon said when she let go of his cheek and rubbed it sorely ‘Do you have enough energy to take care of it properly?’ Madison turned to Xeann and lifted up her injured leg, ignoring the hiss of pain that came out of her. Madison sighed softly and shook her head.  
‘Well doesn’t that look horrifying, what on Ethylias did this to you?’ she said and pulled the makeshift bandages off before grimacing at the bloody sight ‘Well, I can clean it up but fixing and healing would have to wait until tomorrow ‘cause I’ve just spent all of my healing magic on that poor old werewolf upstairs.’ Xeann lurched and hissed in contempt at the mention of ‘werewolf’ and Damon sighed.   
‘Be careful with the ‘w’ word, Madison,’ he cautioned softly as Xeann slowly relaxed ‘Mum’s a full blood traditional vampire.’ Madison looked at him with a frown then gasped, placing a hand over her mouth.  
‘Why, I’m sorry,’ she said ‘I forgot what you told me about you being half vampire and all… I’m sorry, Mrs Kelly.’ Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘Miss Murphy,’ she corrected ‘All the boys take their father’s names.’  
‘Oh why didn’t you tell me, Damon?!’ Madison looked up at Damon with a frown.  
‘I did,’ Damon sighed ‘You must have forgot…again.’  
‘Oh, Damon, please stop treating me like I forget everything, you tease!’ Madison simpered as she slapped Damon’s shoulder playfully then grabbed some bandages to wrap Xeann’s leg up.  
‘The other girls need seeing to too,’ Xeann said as she looked at Amber ‘I’m not sure if they’re fully well from the Croft’s Raven and Magia Forest.’  
‘Hey, you’re the only one who got injured from the Croft’s Raven!’ Saphira pointed at her and they bared their teeth at each other with their individual snarls ‘I’m the one who shot it down!’  
‘Well, Amber was taken out of medical care too early, she needs to be examined properly to see if the Zennalpha plague has gone or not!’ Xeann argued back fiercely with a menacing snarl ‘And Sheela doesn’t look so hot on her feet either, plus I don’t know what her sister is going through!’  
‘We’ll just be in the room next door,’ Amber suddenly decided as she grabbed Saphira by the waist and hauled her out of the room ‘Get well soon.’ Saphira growled as Sheela and Sarah followed them out of the room while Xeann began to hiss in pain at Madison’s ill-treatment to her leg. Amber sighed when they sat outside on a barely stable bench and rubbed her neck.  
‘Um, Amber?’ Sheela said as she leaned over to her ‘Would you like me to find you some clothes?’  
‘Mmm?’ Amber lifted her head and sighed. ‘Nah, I’ll be fine. These bandages are actually quite cosy.’ Sheela giggled but stood up anyway.  
‘I’ll see if our summer house is still intact,’ she said and walked off with a slight stagger.  
‘Uh, I could do for you,’ Sarah said as she was about to stand up.  
‘No!’ Sheela said suddenly with a raised voice then hesitated as a hurt look crossed over her sister’s face ‘…No, stay here with Amber. Saphira can help me over.’ Saphira stood up as Sarah sighed.  
‘She thinks I’m useless at everything because I’m clumsy,’ she muttered while watching them leave ‘It’s so frustrating, I’m not that clumsy!’ Amber chose to remain silent on that note. ‘I pretty much feel useless because my family keep on saying it to me, even my own dad!’ Amber blinked and looked up at her.  
‘You must be able to do something,’ she said ‘Like…do you do martial arts?’  
‘Brown belt in karate but I can’t achieve black because I’m too clumsy,’ Sarah sighed ‘My training instructor isn’t pleased with me at all.’  
‘Brown belt?! I’m only on yellow!’ Sarah glanced at her and smiled.  
‘Black’s my goal,’ she sighed ‘Like everyone else.’  
‘Well…how about a licence or an experience or something like that?’ Amber suggested with hunched shoulders. Sarah hummed before glancing around and leaning to Amber’s ear.  
‘I somehow managed to get a pilot’s licence,’ she whispered.  
‘Wow! Really?!’ Amber gasped then frowned ‘Why are you being so secretive about it?’  
‘The Queen’s looking for pilots and all creatures that can fly ever since she banned flying,’ Sarah whispered discretely ‘No-one knows why but I don’t want to take any risks by flying or telling just anyone about myself. You can’t trust anyone in this world anymore and I don’t want anyone too suspicious to find out about it… My piloting teacher was arrested and taken away last month when they found out that he was a pilot. It was pretty upsetting, he was one of my closest friends. You never know who’s working with the Queen. She has quite a small court and I guess the only person I know about is that Cody chap…’ Amber’s eyes widened at the mention of flying being banned.  
‘Flying has been banned?!’ she whispered in exclamation, her jaw going slack ‘When did that happen?’  
‘Yes, hasn’t it ever occurred to you why you haven’t seen any dragons or pegasi or anything of the like flying around free for a long while?’ Amber looked away with hunched shoulders and sighed.  
‘I’ve only seen Outlandish Vultures and dragons,’ she whispered then bowed her head sadly ‘The dragons…left, didn’t they?’ She remembered the day before the Nightmare Blanket was unleashed, there was a flock of dragons that flew over her village. They ascended into the Dragon Heavens and Amber remembered the sense of loss and sadness that engulfed her when they disappeared completely. She loved dragons with a passion. Amber wiped a tear away and looked up at Sarah. ‘But I’ve seen Outlandish Vultures and a Croft’s Raven flying…’  
‘Abnormal creatures don’t count, they side with her,’ Sarah explained while shaking her head ‘They use this hostility to their advantage so they can hunt more easily and efficiently so they immediately agree with the Queen’s demands. Plus they use their brains more for attacking strategies instead of serious decision making. I’ve always hated them, I keep on getting worried that I might become like one of them whenever they bite me in battle.’ Amber sighed and bowed her head, curling her knees into her chest and hugging them.  
‘I miss my father…’ she whispered.  
‘Aw…’ Sarah wrapped an arm around her and gave her a comforting hug. ‘I’m sure we’ll find him. I miss my dad too, but not that much. He always teased me about permanently sending me to the hospital back in Nubis Metropolis and he always had a first aid kit in handy…’ When Amber remained silent, listening to her story idly, Sarah gently nosed her. ‘Hey, I’m only quarter Enhanced you know.’ Amber looked up with a raised eyebrow.  
‘And three quarters of Sorcery blood?’ she concluded assumingly with a grin. Sarah giggled and shook her head, taking Amber’s hand and leading her outside. She gave her a wink as they ran off to a more secluded area. She tripped up a couple of times on the way, saying that she was OK whenever Amber inquired her health. Amber had never met a clumsier person than Sarah. Even Abigail wasn’t as clumsy when she tried to fly every day since her fifth birthday.  
‘Now, only Sheela and my family know about this,’ she whispered once they were in between two houses in the shade of the sun ‘For the moment, let’s keep this between us, alright?’ She winked slyly then looked from left to right quickly and laced her fingers together with a small smile. ‘My dad’s blood is partially a rare breed of a unicorn cross pegasus,’ she whispered softly and giggled ‘That means I’m part unicorn cross pegasus too!’ Amber gasped and looked at Sarah in awe. She tilted her head and stared at Sarah with an incredulous look.  
‘I’ve heard a lot about those! They’re so rare that they’re near to extinction…’ she murmured but was silenced by Sarah’s hand. Sarah glanced around warily before closing her eyes. Amber covered her eyes when she suddenly glowed pink. She heard a snort and when she uncovered her eyes, her breath left her. A bright pink horse stood before her with golden eyes. Large feathered pegasus wings were attached to her sides while a shiny pink horn was attached to her forehead. Sarah snorted and trotted around in a circle, as if putting herself on show.  
‘I look rather impressive, don’t I?’ she asked with a titter ‘This is how I passed my pilot test in the end.’  
‘You really get a pilot’s licence just for being part pegasus?’ Amber raised a disbelieving eyebrow in bewilderment ‘Isn’t that cheating and a bit unfair for the other people who want to be pilots?’ Sarah snorted amusedly.   
‘No, no, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous, Amber. I just knew how to fly and I thought I could go and get a licence in my human form. I’m the only one in our family who decided to do that. Everyone was pretty surprised when I passed without crashing into anything along the way. Heck, even my teacher was surprised when I passed because I was pretty clumsy taking off at first. In fact, the only person who thought I would pass was my father…’ Amber smiled and sighed.  
‘Must be wonderful to be able to fly freely,’ she murmured.  
‘Uh, no. The Queen banned flying so I haven’t been as free as I like.’ Sarah turned back human in a flash of pink and sighed wistfully. ‘It’s been pretty boring lately… I’ve been missing that feeling of freedom when I take up into the skies, flying without a care in the world. And it was the only place where I wouldn’t get into trouble. The sky is like my little haven when I’m down. I hate the Queen from taking it away from me.’ Amber sighed and hunched her shoulders.  
‘Well, what can we do?’ she mumbled.  
‘We can stand up for ourselves of course!’ Sarah exclaimed suddenly while striking a sharp determined pose, making Amber jump slightly in fright ‘Stand up to the mysterious Queen and fight! Arise, group up and unite to fix the world and bring back the lives that we once knew four months ago! Bring down the damned Nightmare Blanket! And more importantly, fight for those who are dear to us! Let us fight together and fight for what rightfully belongs to us! For freedom! Hya!’ She attempted to finish her little inspirational speech by doing a flying karate kick but crashed into one of the house’s walls, knocking it down in the process. ‘I’m OK!’ Amber didn’t think Sarah was OK so rushed over to help her out of the rubble.   
‘Let’s get you back to the medical centre,’ she said and helped a bruised Sarah back to the medical centre ‘I’m sure Madison will be able to repair whatever you’ve broken.’  
‘Hey, I said I was OK! Come on, let me stand up by myself!’ Amber rolled her eyes as Sarah tried to get out of her grip and complain about people ignoring her when she said she was ‘OK’.


	9. Vienna

Amber sighed as she picked up a stone and threw it across the wasteland. The guns and cannons on the tower swivelled round immediately and shot it into pieces. The tiny pieces fell onto the dry land, smouldering and letting off tiny wisps of smoke. Amber sighed in frustration. It had been two days since they arrived in Magia Town and nothing interesting had really happened. Xeann was in a coma, it was necessary for Madison’s magic to work on her leg while she was unconscious. Sarah needed to stay put and not break anything else in the town or in her body and Sheela needed a lie down too from fighting the illusions in Magia Forest. Saphira, all in all, was fine, apart from the fact that one of her canines was missing from her fight with Cody. The people here didn’t have the resources to make an artificial replacement though, so she was going to adjust having only three canine teeth. Madison did offer to grow it back but Saphira wasn’t entirely confident about having a new tooth grown, especially now when the Nightmare Blanket loved messing spells up. After all, Saphira could end up having teeth grow out of control in her mouth and that would be a bigger problem than having lost a tooth.  
Amber sighed tiredly as she idly turned round and lazily walked back into the abandoned Magia Town with sagged shoulders. She wandered down the dusty streets in one of Sheela’s smaller summer dresses that was given to her to cover her small body over her semi-clean bandages. It felt weird for Amber to wear a dress. She had stopped wearing them since she was ten years old because that was when her assassin training started. Her father commented on the fact that dresses were only useful for an assassin if they were in disguise or working undercover. Brushing some dust off the light turquoise silk material, Amber looked up and stared at the mountain forlornly which separated her from her tiny little home village in the dry desert. Sighing, she hunched her shoulders moodily and wandered by some old unstable wooden market stalls. Licking her dry lips, Amber didn’t really pay attention to where she was going until she crashed into someone. They both fell onto the dusty dirt path, saying their apologies at the same time. Amber opened her eyes and they widened when she saw a young girl with shoulder length pale lilac hair and blood red eyes.  
‘Your name is Vienna, isn’t it?’ she asked in recognition ‘Vienna…Murphy?’ Rule No.1 in assassin training: always know who your target is. That’s what Amber’s father kept on telling her, Amber could still hear that irritated tone of his, when she had difficulty finding the right target for her training one session. Amber definitely remembered Vienna clearly from her photo, there was no mistaking that this is Xeann’s runaway granddaughter. Vienna gasped and stood up, her hood falling off her head, clarifying her identification.  
‘How do you know that?’ she asked warily, stepping back and giving Amber a vigilant suspicious look.  
‘Your grandma is looking for you,’ Amber said as she stood up and stretched her arms out ‘Come on and see her, she’s currently in a small coma in the medical centre while her leg’s healing up. She’s been so worried about you, I bet she would be glad to see that you’re alright.’ She then grabbed Vienna by the wrist and proceeded to take her over to the medical centre. Vienna stayed rooted to the spot determinedly, pulling away from Amber resolutely with a dirty glare directed at the older girl. Amber blinked, looked back and tried to tug her into the direction of the medical centre. Vienna glowered at Amber and snatched her hand back from Amber’s grip.   
‘I don’t want to see her,’ she said to Amber’s confused frown and rubbed her wrist tenderly ‘I need to find my parents.’  
‘We’re looking for them too,’ Amber reasoned ‘Come on, I’ll just introduce you to the girls who are going to help us take down the Queen’s tower. We don’t have to see Xeann right now, just a bit later when she’s better.’  
‘I hate her!’ Amber froze and stared at Vienna’s livid eyes. ‘I really hate my stupid grandmother! She’s nothing but a senseless filthy good for nothing vampire and I will have absolutely nothing to do with her whatsoever! And she sleeps with strange people for money, I’m ashamed of being related to her!’ Amber blinked in confusion, staring at Vienna with a perplexed face.  
‘I can understand why you dislike her job, but you’re a vampire too,’ she said pointing to her ‘I thought you were supposed to hate werewolves?’  
‘I’m half werewolf, half vampire,’ Vienna sniffed snobbishly, folding her arms while sticking her nose up in the air ‘I refuse to have anything to do with my vampire side, it’s disgusting. You don’t know what it’s like to have to drink other people’s blood.’  
‘But, you do feel vampire instincts like your grandmother?’ Amber raised an eyebrow ‘You do drink blood anyway and you do feel hatred towards wolves too?’  
‘Yes, but that’s beside the point.’ Vienna glared at Amber fiercely. ‘My grandmother is bossy, the bossiest vampire that anyone could ever know. She keeps on lecturing me about so many pointless things. She makes me do work about how to be a vampire and tries to convince me to be in my vampire form more. And also, she discourages me from being in touch with my wolf form. But I love my werewolf form and I love being a wolf better than a vampire and she just won’t understand why I do! I hate her! She’s so insensitive, so boring, she won’t understand anything that I say to him and she doesn’t even like my dad! It’s just…unfair…’ She pouted childishly and folded her arms. ‘She wouldn’t even go to leave and look for my parents when they disappeared.’ Amber blinked and bit her lip, her grip firm on Vienna’s wrist.  
‘Look, we all have a common goal,’ she said calmly to try and soothe Vienna’s anger ‘We all want to take down the Queen and find those who are dear to us or at least know what’s happened to them. Xeann’s really experienced and she’s looking for you and your parents now. She can get us into the tower once she’s all healed up, I’m sure she can. Just give her a chance and you just need to act a little bit civil towards her. You can’t find them on your own.’ Vienna bared her fangs before turning away with a grumpy sigh.   
‘But what if she doesn’t want to be civil towards me at all?’ she asked bitterly ‘What if she just grabs me by the ear and drag me back home to lock me up until my parents’ dead bodies come back?’  
‘She’s eighty or so, Vienna,’ Amber sighed and rolled her eyes ‘I think she’s old enough to act civil towards you and not take you back home to lock you up or whatever you think she’s going to do to you.’  
‘But she hates my wolf blood!’ Vienna sniffed and rubbed her eyes.  
‘She’s a full blood traditional vampire,’ Amber remembered what Damon had told her before ‘Of course she’ll have instincts to feel the rivalry between herself and your wolf side. But we have a wolf working with us too and they’re getting on civilly.’ Vienna gaped at Amber then gave her a suspicious look.  
‘My grandmother doesn’t work with wolves,’ she said warily ‘She said so herself when Mommy and Daddy met.’  
‘Well she accepted your dad to be with her daughter in the end, right?’ When Vienna hunched her shoulders to her ears, Amber sighed. ‘Look, you don’t even need to see her that much, you can just use her to your advantage…’  
‘Why should I?’ Vienna snarled.  
‘Because she has had eighty years of life experience on Ethylias!’ Amber snapped at her suddenly in a grumpy tone ‘She can get us across the wasteland and into the tower, I have faith in her to know that! My father has disappeared, my mother and younger brother have been taken away to be made into slaves and I can only rely on her to help me bring an end to this…this nightmare of a world! I trust her and if you want to find your parents, I think you need to start trusting her too.’ Vienna looked paler than she originally was then looked away.  
‘Why is the wolf working with her?’ she asked curiously.  
‘Her cousin got press-ganged into the Queen’s court,’ Amber sighed ‘She can’t stand to see him in pain so she’s having this sort of civil friendship with Xeann because she doesn’t know who else to work with. She’s tried time and again to get to the tower where the Queen is and has failed so she’s putting her trust with Xeann, regardless of the fact that she’s a vampire.’ Vienna hunched her shoulders and sighed.  
‘But…will she actually let me go across the wasteland with her?’ she asked ‘She’s way overprotective and she is always against me…’  
‘I’m sure I can help you two reach a negotiation,’ Amber promised sincerely with an encouraging smile ‘Xeann’s really nice when you get to know her personally. Perhaps that’s what you should do to get along with her. Getting to know someone can easily change your mind about them. Although Xeann is a bit snappy when she’s hungry for blood…’ Vienna smiled softly.  
‘Yeah, I know,’ she murmured shyly.  
‘Well come on,’ Amber tugged Vienna over to the medical centre. Vienna followed reluctantly and moved her hand to hold Amber’s so she could squeeze it as eyes from the injured wandered over to her. Amber squeezed it back comfortingly and stopped in front of Madison who was writing in a medical log book by the reception desk. ‘Hey there, Madison, how’s Xeann at the moment?’ Madison tilted her head and smiled softly.   
‘She’s finally starting to wake up,’ she informed them then whispered quietly ‘Listen, her hearing will be a bit sensitive for an hour or so when she wakes up so promise to be very, very, very quiet for me when you go and see her, OK?’   
Amber nodded with a grateful smile before pulling Vienna down the corridor to Xeann’s room. She quietly opened the door and let Vienna go in first to stand next to Xeann as she slept on her bed. Xeann’s leg looked less mangled than before and there were one or two spots where the Croft’s Raven’s talons had dug into her leg before having the boulder squash her leg. It would take about another day, if the Nightmare Blanket allowed it, for her leg to fully heal and recover. Vienna’s mouth twitched uneasily as she watched Xeann stir in her sleep and took her forest green cloak off to hang it on a chair before sitting in it. Amber noted the rather expensive looking leather bodice and light leather trousers that she wore, torn and worn out. But the style of the clothes matched Xeann’s which had Amber wondering if it was a vampire thing or if Vienna just stole some of Xeann’s smaller clothes before she ran away. Her boots were quite similar too, except they weren’t high heels.   
‘What the hell happened to her?’ Vienna whispered, tilting her head to the side curiously ‘It’s extremely rare for her to be this badly injured. Even vampire hunters can’t do this much damage to her.’ Amber raised an eyebrow.  
‘You’ve never seen her injured before?’ she asked.  
‘Nope, I’ve only seen her in this much pain whilst she was suffering silver poisoning,’ Vienna murmured and looked away guiltily ‘She got it because of me.’ Amber blinked curiously and Vienna sighed softly. ‘I was being hunted by a vampire hunter and grandma took the shot when I found myself in a vulnerable position.’  
‘Do you feel guilty about it?’ Amber asked.  
‘Yeah, my mum made me feel a little guilty about it because she loves Nan so much and gave me a lecture about being more careful and even gave me a curfew until the vampire hunter was finally eliminated, the bastard.’ Vienna hunched her shoulders regretfully and brought her knees to her chest, hugging them while staring at Xeann blankly. ‘Look, don’t tell her this, but I was hoping for her to stay alive because…well, it was just instincts as a vampire granddaughter to a vampire grandma really because of that stupid stuff about respect to your elders.’ She failed to see the small knowing smirk that spread across Xeann’s ethereal features as she spoke. Amber caught the smirk and smiled softly to hide her own smirk.   
‘Well, she got injured because she got caught by a Croft’s Raven,’ Amber changed the subject smoothly ‘She told us that it grabbed her by the leg then trapped her with a boulder, assuming she was dead once the boulder impacted her on her leg. She managed to roll away to avoid certain death.’  
‘Oh,’ Vienna murmured quietly ‘Not as bad as I thought then.’ She noticed the eyebrow twitch on Xeann’s face and growled. ‘You can wake up properly now.’ Xeann turned her head to Vienna’s direction and opened her eyes.   
‘What brought you here?’ she asked. Vienna jerked her head in Amber’s direction.  
‘Your little spy that you sent to find me,’ she snarled in contempt. Amber blinked in surprise at the sudden change of character and narrowed her eyes.  
‘I’m a trainee assassin, not a spy,’ she corrected and flounced out of the room ‘Enjoy the reunion. I’m sure you’ll want some privacy.’ She closed the door carefully and Xeann sighed.  
‘Right, young lady,’ she said while giving Vienna a stern scolding look ‘We need to talk about you running away to find your lost parents when the world’s just been turned upside down.’ Vienna muffled a tired moan into her arms. Xeann’s eyes softened as she beckoned her granddaughter over. Vienna glowered at her.  
‘This is as close as I’m going to get to you,’ she snarled determinedly. Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘Am I too old for a hug from my only granddaughter?’ she commented with a playful pout and beckoned Vienna again ‘Come on, Vienna, sweetie. I’ve been worried about you, you little terror. The least you can do is give your aging grandmother a hug.’ Vienna snarled and turned away.  
‘You are most definitely not aging,’ she muttered ‘And I am no terror nor am I a sweetie.’ Xeann laughed lightly and tutted, wagging her finger at her.  
‘I can recount all the times you’ve been a little terror, young lady,’ she smirked and slowly sat up and leaned on the wall behind her ‘You were like your father when you were little, refusing to walk in your vampire form.’ Vienna blushed and glared at her.  
‘Quiet, someone could hear you,’ she hissed and scooted her chair forward reluctantly. Xeann chuckled and wrapped her arms around her granddaughter, squeezing her tightly.  
‘You know, you could have asked if you wanted to look for your parents,’ she said, combing Vienna’s hair with her fingers softly. Vienna glared up at her, her head resting on Xeann’s shoulder.  
‘You would have said no and would have not let me go,’ she scowled distastefully at her ‘I don’t think I had much of a choice but to run away to look for my parents.’ Xeann cocked an eyebrow and flicked her nose.  
‘Let me correct you,’ she said as Vienna yelped and tried to pull away ‘I wouldn’t have let you go alone. I would have easily gone with you after making sure things were settled with Crystal and Cassandra. I appreciate the fact that you miss you parents, Vienna, so I would help you find them.’ Vienna glared at her and folded her arms.  
‘I predicted that you would rather stay behind and look after Cassandra,’ she sighed and looked away ‘She is only a few months old after all.’ Xeann leaned back and sighed forlornly.  
‘I wish she hadn’t been born in a world like this,’ she said placing a hand over her dead heart ‘I miss my poor little Cassandra already. I don’t think she knows me well enough yet and I was still breastfeeding her…’ She hissed in pain as Vienna suddenly slapped her, her blood red eyes glowering at her in fury.  
‘You idiot!’ she hissed angrily as Xeann scowled at her while rubbing her cheek soothingly ‘What kind of mother leaves her baby during the period when she’s still breastfeeding!’  
‘Well what kind of granddaughter leaves her home without her grandmother’s permission and nearly gives half her aunts heart-attacks when they realise that she’s suddenly disappeared!’ Xeann snarled back ‘I’m not the only one that’s been worrying about you, Vienna!’ Vienna snarled and they began arguing viciously.


	10. Life Before

Amber felt a bit awkward as she sat in the bedroom that she shared with Saphira at the medical centre. Sheela and Sarah had arrived an hour ago and were sitting on Amber’s bed, watching Xeann, who was nearly fully recovered from the Croft’s Raven’s attack and the two young werewolves who sat on Saphira’s bed, glowering at one another. Sheela hummed to herself as Sarah looked around curiously, whistling to break the awkward silence. Xeann had her arms crossed and seemed rather tired at the threatening glares that were coming from the young werewolves. Amber cleared her throat and leaned back.  
‘So…if we’re all going to try and get to the tower,’ Amber said bringing all the attention to her ‘how about we get to know each other so we could get along better? It would be better to work as a team.’  
‘I already know her so I don’t think we could get along much better if we hate each other’s guts,’ Vienna snarled, glaring in Xeann’s direction who retaliated the glare ‘I only work with wolves.’  
‘Vienna, behave,’ Xeann said sternly with the wag of her finger and Vienna growled at her with bared yellow teeth ‘Now, I think Amber’s idea is a good suggestion to get to know each and everyone’s abilities and strengths. I wish you would stop giving everyone’s idea a negative light.’ Vienna sneered at her nastily, her blood red eyes flashing before getting an annoyed nudge from Saphira. Saphira stared at Amber with wary narrowed eyes and sat up away from the cracked wall behind her.  
‘Saphira Lilian Juliet Kail,’ she recited her full name in a monotone ‘I am going to be twelve in a few days and I have two triplet sisters, Teresa and Victoria. My mother is a sorceress and my father is a werewolf. I have inherited my mother’s ice elemental powers but there’s a limit to how long I can use them for and I’ve also inherited my father’s wolf genes. My mother’s brother and my father’s sister married and had two children. Cody is one of them and his twin brother is called Matthew. I got along really well with Cody so when he ran away to join the Queen’s forces, of course I ran after him to get him back home. We were all close and live together so we’re a large family altogether really.’ She turned to Xeann warily who had a content smile on her face.  
‘I had a good friend named Juliet once,’ she reminisced with a sad sigh ‘It’s a pity I outlived her, she was a human. She was very nice, very caring and understanding… It was rather sad when she had to pass away.’  
‘One of the disadvantages of being a vampire,’ Vienna folded her arms and began sulking ‘If any of your friends are humans then you outlive them pretty easily.’ Xeann sighed and rolled her eyes.  
‘I’ve told you before, Vienna,’ she said while her granddaughter began glaring at her ‘You can turn your friends, providing you have their permission, when you’re eighteen. It’s part of the vampire law, you or your friends could get arrested for undergoing the turning ritual underage.’  
‘Oh, you’re so boring, Nan,’ Vienna sneered ‘I swear you’ve broken the vampire law before.’  
‘Yes and it wasn’t a pleasant experience that I got whipped with a silver laced whip for punishment from my parents,’ Xeann’s stare at Vienna softened when she whined at the mention of silver ‘I do not believe in that sort of punishment but it would be up to your parents to decide what punishment would suit you best. I took money out of my children’s accounts if they ever broke the law.’   
‘Hey, Nan, how come you never turned your friends?’ Vienna asked with a sneer.  
‘They didn’t want to turn,’ Xeann answered with a sad smile ‘They didn’t even recognize that I was a vampire because they were terrified of them. I did ask if the opportunity ever came if they would turn or not. They immediately said no.’ Silence fell upon them again until Sarah cleared her throat.  
‘Heya!’ she chirruped with a bright smile and cheery wave ‘My name is Sarah Stefanie Whitney Miura and this is my older triplet sister, Sheela Britney Felicity Miura. We are both eighteen years old and we’ll be nineteen in a few months. We often host birthday parties too so we practically knew half the population of Nubis Metropolis before it fell into ruin because of the Nightmare Blanket. Our father is part pegasus part unicorn, so we can change into them whenever we want but not anymore because of the Queen’s new laws. The rest of him is from the Sorcery category. Our mother is part Enhanced part Sorcery so we all have a bit of Enhanced and Sorcery within us. We always got a choice to which path we wanted to take. I chose Enhanced and Sheela here chose Sorcery.’  
‘We have many brothers and sisters,’ Sheela continued ‘Our father had a fertile gene within him. Our triplet brother is named Sebastian and I’m quite close to him. He never got along with Sarah. Our sisters that have been kidnapped are fifteen years old and they are called Cecilia and Iris. They have quadruplet brothers, Narcissus and Luke. Below them are the twelve year old triplets, Faith, Darren and Cecil. Then below them are the seven year old quadruplets, Katherine, Rachel, Madeline and Laura.’ Only Xeann seemed unaffected by the amount of siblings they had. Amber’s jaw was slack in awe.  
‘In what kind of house do you live in?’ she asked. Sarah laughed as Sheela smiled softly.  
‘Before our father was disowned from his family, he had an equitation business for a few years, including horses, unicorns and pegasi,’ Sheela explained ‘He was allowed to keep the money that he had made and it was quite a lot so he could afford a large house over in Nubis Metropolis with our mother and transfer his business over.’  
‘When did he move over there?’ Xeann asked with a frown.  
‘About twenty years ago,’ Sheela said after a small pause.  
‘Oh?’ Xeann raised her eyebrows ‘So he just missed out on the economic depression that happened over there then. Lucky him.’ Sheela smiled widely.  
‘I know, he always was that kind of person who had the perfect timing,’ Sheela sighed softly. Vienna cleared her throat harshly, standing up and folding her arms.  
‘My full name is Vienna Susanna Sierra Murphy,’ she said ‘My mother decided to keep her maiden name and my father agreed to change his last name to Murphy too. He hasn’t told me his original surname which I don’t know why. As some of you know, I am half vampire, half wolf. My mother is the vampire side to me and my father is the wolf side to me. I have developed the elemental ability of earth from my vampire genes. I am an only child and I turned twelve two months ago. I have twenty six uncles and twenty five aunts but I do not know all of them because I haven’t met all of them. My father’s background is unknown to me because he refuses to talk about his family. All I know was that he ran away from them.’ Xeann’s eyes flashed at the mention of Vienna’s father.  
‘Your mother doesn’t know much about his background either,’ she said ‘Not even why he ran away in the first place. Him being a werewolf wasn’t the only thing I was wary about, Vienna. I didn’t know who he was, where he was from and I couldn’t meet his parents.’  
‘But why would you care about those minor details?’ Vienna whined ‘Why would you want to meet a family of werewolves?’  
‘I needed to know if my daughter was dating a safe werewolf,’ Xeann replied calmly as she took a deep and impatient breath ‘No family and no background would sound suspicious to anyone. I was worried that he might have been a criminal.’ Vienna fell silent and hunched her shoulders, turning away from her moodily. Saphira eyed Xeann warily before leaning into Vienna.  
‘Any parent would have been like that,’ she reassured Vienna ‘She’s just being a mother, Vienna.’ Vienna scowled and remained silent. Xeann sighed and leaned back.  
‘Xeanna Susanna Sabrina Murphy,’ she recited her name ‘But I prefer my name to be shorted to ‘Xeann’. I never liked my full name. Too many A’s, nasty letters if you ask my opinion. My parents were of noble blood so I was raised as a lady with little freedom until I was sixteen. I developed earlier than normal vampire girls so had a test done to me. It was confirmed that I could be a Vampire Mother for the century so my parents immediately started training me to look after children. I had my first child when I was twenty and married my first husband when I was twenty three. My eighty-first birthday was yesterday…’  
‘Happy Birthday,’ Amber and Sarah said immediately after her statement. Xeann forced a grin.  
‘Thank you,’ she said. Vienna snorted.  
‘Nan hates her birthdays,’ she said.  
‘Well, when you have fifty children bouncing on your bed on your birthday, it is rather uncomfortable and awkward when both of your husbands wake up,’ Xeann muttered and cleared her throat ‘I have the elemental ability of shadow manipulation and transportation but I rarely use it now because the Nightmare Blanket once let me come out with half my left index finger cut off.’ She held it up to show the small scar that circled it. ‘I had it sown back on rather than having it grown back. It was quite nasty though, it gave my children quite the scare.’ She turned to Amber. ‘Well that’s enough about me. What about you, Amber?’ Amber swallowed and took a deep breath.  
‘My full name is Amber Ruby Garnet Caelum,’ she said and leaned back to stare at the ceiling ‘The Nightmare Blanket took over the world two days before my fourteenth birthday. I have always lived in that little village in the desert and before you ask, I don’t actually know the name of it. I’ve always called it the Nameless Village when I was little but stopped when I thought it was a bit ridiculous. My father thought so to but even he didn’t know the name of it so he just called it the village. My mother is a sorceress and my father is in the Enhanced category. I chose the path of the Enhanced category because I feel more comfortable in that category but I do have a little bit of elemental power which I can’t use because of the Nightmare Blanket.’  
‘What is it?’ Sarah asked curiously. Amber smirked proudly.  
‘I can detect people’s body heats if I’m hunting for them,’ she said ‘That’s one of the many reasons why I’m training to be an assassin.’ Xeann quirked an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side curiously.  
‘That’s rather interesting,’ she commented ‘How did you discover it?’ Amber smiled softly.  
‘I was playing hide and seek with my friends and found them quite easily when I felt their body heats,’ she smiled sheepishly ‘My father found out about it after I spent two years using it while playing hide and seek.’  
‘You cheated in hide and seek?!’ Sarah exclaimed loudly while staring at her with wide eyes ‘That’s against the law of children! How could you do such a thing?!’ Amber raised an eyebrow as Sheela sighed and shook her head.  
‘Sarah has always been a child at heart, please ignore her irrelevant and ridiculous comments,’ she said tiredly, causing Sarah to pout childishly at her statement. Xeann smiled softly and leaned back, folding her arms.  
‘Continue, Amber,’ she said ‘I don’t believe you’re finished.’ Amber cleared her throat.  
‘I have a younger brother called Jasper Emerald Moon-Stone Caelum who is still deciding which path he wants to go down,’ she continued ‘I love him so much, I never let him get hurt by any of the bullies in the village. I prefer hand-to-hand combat as opposed to using weapons against an enemy. I know how to use a whip and a sword but rarely carry one about. I’ve always found weapons fiddly and awkward to carry around.’ Silence fell upon them again when Amber finished and Xeann sighed.  
‘It was good while it lasted,’ she murmured.  
‘Hey, how about we talk about each other’s preferences?!’ Sarah suddenly suggested very loudly ‘That’s a good and easy way to get to know each other! Let’s start with colours first! Everyone knows colours and has a favourite one. My favourite colour is pink because it’s the colour of my hair and our mother’s hair and it’s very pretty and Sheela’s favourite colour is blue because it reminds her of the sky and of our father’s coat when he’s a pegasus cross unicorn…’  
‘It’s teal and it’s hardly relevant to getting to know one another in the sense of understanding each other’s strengths and abilities,’ Sheela snapped rather moodily.  
‘My favourite colour is orange,’ Amber said sheepishly with a bashful blush ‘My dad’s eyes are orange and even though he’s usually grumpy, his eyes show his emotions like love and signs to show that he cares even though he doesn’t look like he does.’  
‘My favourite colour is green,’ Vienna mumbled shyly while folding her arms ‘My mum loves gardening so we have lots of plants around in our house and we had a big garden outside with different ferns, flowers, we had several varieties of grass and every tree that anyone could think of. Green also makes me think of the nice warm summer and the brilliant weather we had before the Nightmare Blanket came.’  
‘My favourite colour is black,’ Xeann tossed her ebony hair with a wide smile ‘I don’t really know why apart from it’s my hair colour but perhaps it’s because I always wanted to sort of shrink back into the darkness when I felt out of place. I never was a fan of large crowds when I was young. I blame my isolated childhood that my parents pushed on me.’  
‘White.’ Everyone turned to Saphira as she abruptly spoke. ‘I like white because I like snow and winter,’ she said while staring out of the cracked window ‘When it snows naturally, I can go out and make snow angels, make snow wolves, build snow houses and I can celebrate Uncle Erik’s birthday by making a snow birthday cake.’ Amber tilted her head in wonder as she briefly remembered the snow that Saphira had summoned when they were fighting the Croft’s Raven.  
‘Snow sounds wonderful,’ she commented and Saphira turned to her.  
‘When the Nightmare Blanket is gone, I can take you to our home when it’s winter,’ she said ‘We live in the Frigus Mountains, far north from here, and it snows often when it’s winter.’  
‘I like to fly when it’s snowing!’ Sarah exclaimed cheerfully and clapped her hands happily. Sheela snorted.  
‘You normally crashed into Mt Sky whenever you went out to fly in the snow,’ she commented ‘Father had to bandage you up every week.’ Sarah protested loudly with a childish whine and began shaking Sheela as Amber laughed lightly.   
‘I hate winter,’ Vienna said with a small scowl ‘I don’t like the cold, it’s not nice.’  
‘I agree, I’ve caught pneumonia once or twice from being out in the cold too much,’ Xeann nodded with a disapproving frown.  
‘Getting cold is the best thing about winter,’ Saphira smiled and sighed wistfully ‘When I was nine years old, I ran out into the snow naked.’  
‘No way!’ Sarah gasped ‘I must try that when the Nightmare Blanket is gone!’  
‘No, Sarah!’ Sheela suddenly said, trying to discourage any thoughts that were developing in Sarah’s mind ‘She was nine back then and had elemental ice powers! You’re eighteen now!’  
‘So?’ Sarah blinked obliviously. Sheela groaned and shook her head with a sigh, covering her face. Amber smiled warmly and hunched her shoulders.  
‘I loved winter,’ she said ‘It was when the sun wasn’t too hot and you didn’t have to put on too much sun cream. But I preferred the summer a bit more because that was when the coconuts ripened and were ready to be freshly picked.’  
‘Oh, my mother’s strawberries were top quality!’ Vienna sighed as she leaned back and gazed at the ceiling wistfully ‘Every five days I would have fresh strawberries with sugar and cream. I miss them now.’ Amber smiled softly at her dismayed sigh.  
‘Yes, I miss picking coconuts too,’ she sighed mournfully ‘It was so fun because you got to tower over the people beneath you who are trying to catch them. It was a sort of sport I suppose, the only thing you had to be careful of was to not drop the coconuts on anyone’s head unless their skull is thick enough to take the impact. Those who had thick skulls could head-butt the coconuts to split them in half.’  
She made eye contact with Xeann who smiled warmly at her. Amber smiled back and watched as everyone began conversing with one another. This was a slow but steady start, however, they could have a better chance to take down the tower if they got to know one another better.


	11. One Way Across

Saphira yelped and turned back, running away from the tower in her tame wolf form after a gun narrowly missed hitting her blue fluffy tail, which fluffed up even more when it felt the threat. She hid behind Vienna with her now very fuzzy tail tucked in between her legs, looking up at the tower with a whimper. A burnt graze was visible on her front leg and she lifted it up gingerly to lick it. Sarah cooed in sympathy and bent down to pat Saphira’s head reassuringly but drew back immediately to avoid getting bitten after Saphira gave her a menacing growl. Sarah then hid behind Sheela with a whimper, staring down at Saphira warily and with a pout. Vienna tilted her head to the side while staring up at the tower and frowned.  
‘Why does there have to be so many of them?’ she whined and stomped her foot childishly ‘It’s not fair!’  
‘What have we talked about, Vienna?’ Xeann asked after the remark. Vienna hunched her shoulders and sighed.  
‘Life can’t always be fair,’ she mumbled.  
‘Precisely,’ Xeann nodded.  
‘OK, my turn now!’ Sarah announced brightly with a cheerful grin as she abruptly turned into her pegasus form. Sheela snapped her head to her sister in alarm.   
‘No, don’t!’ she cried but it was too late. Sarah was already up in the air and sailing towards the tower at break neck speed. She neighed in panic as the guns and cannons immediately turned to her and began shooting vigorously. She dove, swerved and spiralled to dodge the bullets and cannonballs, neighing in alarm when a cannonball hit her wing. She spiralled down to the ground, hitting the wasteland and kicking up a cloud of dust as several more shots from the guns were thrown at her. Amber winced sympathetically as her enhanced hearing heard a painful crack when Sarah landed. Sheela covered her mouth and nose with her hands in horror, an upset gasp escaping from her mouth. Xeann rolled her eyes while Saphira and Vienna stared in horrified awe.   
‘I’m OK!’ Sarah’s voice rang out of the dust cloud. The guns and cannons swerved and began shooting once the dust cloud began to clear. Sheela let out a horrified gasp as she saw Sarah running down towards the tower with a stubborn aura about her and a very painful-looking limp. Amber watched speechless, eyes wide in wonder as she watched the clumsy young pegasus run for her life. Saphira, still in her tame wolf form, whimpered and covered her eyes with her paws when she lost the will to watch. Vienna began biting her nails, watching her nervously. Xeann folded her arms and raised an eyebrow unimpressed.  
‘How reckless,’ she commented as Sarah rapidly darted from one side to the other to dodge the countless bullets and cannons.  
‘Sarah! Get back! It’s too dangerous! Please come back!’ Sheela shouted, screaming whenever she thought Sarah had gotten hit ‘Sarah Stefanie Whitney Miura, get back here right now or I’ll kill you!’ Sarah either didn’t hear her or ignored her completely as she continued running towards the tower. One cannonball eventually hit her good leg, sending her toppling down onto the ground. The guns and cannons stopped when she stopped moving, letting her lie down on her back in the blistering sun, about fifty metres away from the actual tower. Sheela looked absolutely mortified as she saw her sister down and so close to the tower. Xeann tilted her head to the side curiously.   
‘Well, you have to admit,’ she shrugged ‘She’s determined.’  
‘I’m still OK!’ Sarah yelled from her position.  
‘You sure don’t look OK over there!’ Saphira shouted as Sheela hovered on the spot with her arms out towards her younger sister. Sarah was lifted up and carried out of the wasteland by her sister’s spell. Amber watched curiously in awe as Sheela staggered in concentration due to the heat that was bearing down on her. She remembered seeing different sorceresses struggling in spells since the Nightmare Blanket came because apparently there was something in the Blanket that disrupted spells. No-one knew what it was exactly, but it must be powerful to make even the easiest of spells backfire. Amber bowed her head in sorrow as she remembered that was how Sabrina died. It was just a simple fire spell that went out of control and engulfed both her and the soldiers. Amber had gotten away before she was claimed by the flames. Amber sniffed back tears and turned away when Sarah was out of the wasteland zone.  
‘I’ll take her to the medical centre and see if she’ll need new legs or not,’ Sheela muttered as they both floated over into the town.  
‘I’ll be OK,’ Sarah scoffed ‘You should have more faith in me, Sheela.’  
‘I told you flying would be a bad idea!’ Sheela scolded Sarah as she wobbled a bit with her spell.  
‘But it seemed like such a good idea at the time…’ Sarah whined with a pout as they disappeared into the medical centre. Saphira sagged her shoulders and stared at the tower.   
‘There must be some way across,’ she said ‘Otherwise, how can an idiot like Cody reach it to get orders from the Queen?’  
‘You really think so highly of your cousin, don’t you?’ Xeann drawled while folding her arms. Saphira snarled and snapped at her.  
‘Why don’t you try getting across?’ she challenged.  
‘I would like to observe the tower’s movements before trying to get across,’ Xeann answered simply ‘If I was to start running at it like a maniac, I would probably get shot down quite quickly.’  
‘You’re a vampire, I thought you guys had super speed,’ Saphira sneered with a raised eyebrow.  
‘Our speed does not match those in the Enhanced category,’ Xeann sneered back.  
‘Break it up,’ Amber clapped her hands sharply as she sensed the friction between them. Saphira snarled once before turning her back.  
‘I’m going for a walk to clear my head,’ she announced and flounced off into the town. Vienna blinked and rolled her eyes.  
‘Well done, Nan,’ she muttered ‘So much for teamwork with a wolf.’  
‘Behave, Vienna,’ Xeann said as she looked up at the tower to study it further.

***

Saphira hummed to herself and walked around the outskirts of Magia Town, her head down in deep thought as she tried to come up with a decent solution to get across to the wasteland to the Queen’s tower so she could get to Cody. Humming to herself to try and cheer up slightly, she glanced up every so now and then to glare at the cursed Nightmare Blanket above her. She had seen Cody coming back from that tower so many times when she was tracking him down. He surely must have gotten across the wasteland somehow before to be going away from the Queen’s tower. Saphira was determined to not be bested by her lovable idiot of a cousin. …Maybe he dug a tunnel underneath the wasteland to get to that damned tower? Wolves really like to dig but Cody seemed a bit too stupid to dig in the right direction to get to the tower. Yeah, for one who can control lightning and electricity, Cody isn’t exactly the brightest of sparks, no matter how hard he worked in school. He was always teased about that. It didn’t upset him really; he would usually laugh it off before going off to do something stupid and idiotic. Sure, he was an idiot, but he was a lovable idiot.   
Saphira sighed as she took her hair out of its ponytail and ran her fingers through it, growling as she felt the consistent knots in it. She needed to find a way to get him to leave the Queen. His ability to control thunderstorms and manipulate electricity could help them out to take the Queen down and get the world back to its normal state. Truth to be told, Saphira missed the bloody idiot blundering about whenever he visited. She worried about him too, he was like a brother to her more than a cousin. They went once a month to the full moon festival before the Nightmare Blanket and Saphira would always watch and laugh as he ran away from the many girls who wanted to mate with him. Cody was absolutely terrified of girls, especially if they tried to flirt with him because he was fairly good-looking and just too cute. Apart from the girls in the family, of course, but no-one in the family flirted with him.   
Saphira sat down on a large rock by the terraced pathway that went up to Magia Forest. She crossed her legs and closed her eyes to go into a meditation position, keeping an alert around her surroundings. She thought about that large daunting tower that was the group’s goal to take down along with its Queen. It was so frustrating; they had been at it for three long days since the vampire recovered from her injury. One theory that Amber had come up with was that the tower could sense the movements in the ground so Saphira had worked hard to create an ice bridge to get over to the tower. Not only did the blistering hot sun melt it, the cannons and guns knocked it over in minutes. Saphira, with her fear of guns, cannons and loud sounds, ran off before anything could shoot and hit her and hid in the medical centre for about two hours. Vienna could control earth due to her unique vampire ability so she tried to make a tunnel across the wasteland in the hope that the tunnel would shield her from any attacks. It didn’t really work, it was blasted in several small pieces and Vienna would have been toast if Xeann hadn’t been quick enough to snatch her and get her to safety. Amber had tried her weave and dodge technique, professionally taught to her by her father, on the guns but the cannons nearly floored her, sending her back to safety because those large cannonballs really intimidated her. Xeann could sink into shadows and travel around in them. It didn’t work, she was shot at and thrown off the wasteland.   
Saphira sighed in frustration and shook her head sadly with a pout. How could they ever get safely across the wasteland? It seemed pretty impossible but Xeann seemed pretty determined that there was some way to get across. Of course, Saphira herself was sure that there was a way across. Saphira’s eyes suddenly snapped open as she heard a twig snap and she turned her head sharply. She gasped as she saw Cody creeping past her. Cody froze in position when he saw Saphira’s icy blue gaze, his golden gaze somewhat warm, as if to try and melt her. He was still in his torn khaki shorts but he had some material wrapped around his arm where she had bitten him. Saphira got to her feet as he braced a running position.   
‘Don’t you dare move!’ she shouted, her eyes flashing light blue. Cody yelped as ice encased his feet and legs, making him unable to move.  
‘Alright, alright, you got me, Saph! I’m not going anywhere!’ he said immediately holding his hands up in defeat with wide eyes when Saphira marched over towards him resolutely, tying her blue hair back up into her ponytail. Saphira looked up at him, determination written clear on her face. Cody winced at the stern look and leaned away warily. ‘Please don’t hurt me too much…’ he whimpered, pulling puppy dog eyes ‘I promise I’ll do whatever you want me to do…’ Saphira’s eyes softened somewhat as she relaxed and sighed heavily.  
‘You idiot, you know I want you to leave the Queen’s forces,’ she said ‘I know you don’t enjoy what you do and I can’t see why you’re continuing to work for her…’  
‘Have you seen who’s on her side?’ Cody asked as he grabbed Saphira’s shoulders ‘She has two demons working for her, Saphira. They know nothing but torture, nightmares, horror, sadism, cruelty and they take pleasure in doing anything that would cause other people eternal pain. If I stop, they’ll target Mom, Dad, my brother, you, your sisters, everyone who’s dear to me! I can’t let them do that and to make sure they stay put, I have to stay with the Queen and continue to work for her.’ Saphira grabbed him by the face then slapped his cheeks, three times in succession.  
‘You idiot, we’re werewolves!’ she shouted as Cody shook his head out when his cheeks stung from her slaps ‘Where’s your pride?! We can take care of ourselves! All you need to worry about is yourself when you come back home!’  
‘Oh, so you’ve been up against two demons before, huh?’ Cody raised a sceptical eyebrow. Saphira blinked and growled.  
‘There’s always a first time for everything,’ she said.  
‘Trust me, this is one experience I don’t want you to have, Saph!’ Cody said as he shook her ‘Saphira, I care for you and everyone else. I don’t want you to suffer their torture, they know no limits!’  
‘Why do you refuse to come back?!’ Saphira wailed as tears began to collect in her eyes ‘Do you hate us so much? I can take anything on, Cody! And so can our family! Any pain, any torture, any threat! I just want you back home…’ She sniffed and wiped her face, sobbing helplessly in her hands. Cody looked down at her and reached into the pocket of his shorts, pulling out a small golden trinket. He clasped it around her neck and ruffled her hair.  
‘Happy Birthday, squirt,’ he smiled softly and kissed her forehead. Saphira gasped as the cold metal touched her skin and looked down at it in wonder. It was just a simple gold chain with a gold coin attached to it. She clutched onto it and closed her eyes. He would always give her jewellery for her birthday, no matter what she protested. The gold coin was birthday money, money that he gained from his job as an oddjobber. He always remembered her birthday, no matter what happened. Smiling to herself, Saphira opened her eyes to thank Cody. But Cody wasn’t there. Blinking in disbelief, she looked down to see that the ice had been shattered and looked behind her to see Cody sneaking off.  
‘CODY!’ she screamed shrilly as she turned into her feral wolf form and lunged for him, jaws wide open to clamp down onto his neck. Cody turned into his feral wolf form just in time so he could catch her and pin her down to the ground. Saphira yelped at the sudden transformation and whined slightly when her back collided with the ground. Their eyes connected and they simultaneously growled at one another. Cody dug his nails into Saphira to try and calm her down slightly, showing off his strength.  
‘Don’t make me do this, Saphira,’ he rumbled in a low tone.  
‘Oh, I assure you, my dear idiot of a cousin, I shall take you down painfully before you can even know it!’ Saphira snarled challengingly as she snapped her jaws at him. Cody grabbed her by the neck harshly and threw her into the building behind him, smashing it down in the process. Saphira yelped in surprised pain as she tumbled into the building and rubble fell on top of her. Cody breathed softly as he watched the collapsed building warily, bringing his large front paws up to get ready to catch Saphira if she suddenly came flying out of the rubble. Saphira burst out of the stone rubble, sending it flying everywhere, nearly knocking Cody out. She lunged for him with an animalistic howl and he caught her easily, swinging her into the cliffs of the terraced pathway like she was a paper doll. Saphira grunted as she landed and glared at Cody. ‘Since when were you so strong?’ she asked with a snarl.  
‘Being in the Queen’s forces ensures the healthy living that’s essential for battle,’ Cody said with a smug smirk and flexed his muscles to brag a little bit ‘And you’re overcome with anger which makes you lose your focus. I’m sorry, Saph, but the only way you could possibly beat me is if you join the Queen’s forces. You could do with some weight or you’ll end up getting anorexia like Teresa.’ Saphira snarled in outrage and got to her feet.  
‘I’ll kill you if you don’t shut up about that stupid Queen!’ she howled angrily and ran towards him to tackle him with a menacing snarl. Cody picked her up effortlessly, catching her off guard and held her over his head. Thunderclouds swarmed above him as a dangerous low rumble vibrated in his chest. Saphira wriggled in his grip, yelping as his large claws dug into her skin deeper the more she resisted him. Cody sighed as he shook his head and glanced up at his younger cousin.  
‘Saphira, I really don’t want to do this,’ he said.  
‘Put me down, I want to claw your stupid tongue out so you’ll stop talking!’ Saphira snarled and wriggled in his grip. Cody sighed as he howled loudly. A large bolt of lightning came out of the black abyss above him and struck Saphira in the chest. Saphira gasped as she slowly sunk into her human form and lost consciousness, static electricity crackling all over her body. Cody slowly brought her down and cradled her with a forlorn look.  
‘Sorry, Saph,’ he sighed ‘But I can’t take any chances despite what you think.’ He trudged over to the medical centre and placed her carefully on the steps. He took out a tooth from his pocket and placed it on her lap. ‘Uh…yeah, I thought you’d want it back,’ he murmured and shrunk into his tame wolf form ‘I still love you and the others no matter what you think and I just want to say, I still care.’ He whimpered softly, licked her cheek before padding off towards the tower in the wasteland.

***

Xeann meditated calmly as Vienna tried to dig a tunnel underneath the wasteland to get to the tower. She ignored the comments made at her for doing nothing and letting the younger children do all the work for her. Amber peered down the tunnel curiously, stealthily dodging the clumps of earth as it came flying out of the hole.   
‘How is it going?’ she called down to Vienna.  
‘I might actually manage to get to the tower at this rate!’ Vienna’s voice echoed back up to her.  
Xeann cracked open one eye immediately after she smelt a strange werewolf. Snarling, she turned her head and paused as she saw a wolf, its golden fur shining brilliantly in the sun, pad over the wasteland towards the tower. She watched as it casually walked across the wasteland without a worry and no gun or cannon swerved to try and shoot him down. She stood up as Vienna shouted and cursed in frustration after finding steel walls underneath the wasteland, complaining that she couldn’t get through them. Xeann cautiously stepped out onto the wasteland and began walking at a slow and steady pace to the tower. She kept a close eye on the tower, keeping her breathing even as she made sure to dodge any bullet or cannonball that came her way. She sighed softly in relief as she passed the halfway mark which was Sarah’s dent, where she crashed into the wasteland. Amber gaped as Vienna popped her head out of the hole and looked at Xeann with a disbelieving look.   
‘How’d you get over there?!’ she shouted. Xeann smirked and placed her hands on her hips.  
‘I found the way across,’ she said smugly with a grin ‘Prepare for battle girls, we’re going to be storming down a tower.’


	12. Going Up

Amber swallowed nervously as she stood slightly behind Xeann, staring up at the tower uncertainly. Xeann kept a firm stance, looking up at the tower coolly as the sun steadily set over the horizon. Sheela looked rather wary, giving the tower a doubtful glance then glanced at Sarah. Sarah, nearly reaching a full recovery, bounced on the balls of her feet eagerly, ready to get going. Saphira whimpered softly in her tame wolf form, tail tucked in between her hind legs as she stared up at the looming tower behind Damon. Vienna snuffled warily in her tame wolf form with lilac fur cautiously and looked up at her grandmother uncertainly.  
‘Supposing your theory is horribly wrong and we get shot at?’ she asked and warily glanced back at the crowd behind them. Xeann gave her a look and she snarled at her when they had eye contact. ‘I mean, they could have changed the way the guns work since you managed to get halfway across without being shot at.’ A murmur of agreement and uncertainty rippled through the crowd. Xeann huffed to herself in frustration and rolled her eyes at them. The crowd consisted of several fighters and scavengers that were staying in Magia Town in the hopes of taking down the Queen’s tower. Damon sighed and bent down and ruffled Vienna’s ears with a cheerful smile.  
‘You should have more faith and trust in your grandmother,’ he said to her softly with the wag of his finger while resting his hand on her shoulder ‘Remember, she’s been good at this sort of thing since she was your age. She does have eighty years of life experience.’ Vienna growled warningly and shook her head to get his hand off. Damon recoiled and raised an eyebrow at her. ‘I know you two don’t get along very well but you agreed to work with her until you find your parents.’ Vienna huffed and turned away moodily. Xeann rolled her eyes again and smiled with a shrug. She grunted as she stretched her arms above her head and sighed, rolling her shoulders.  
‘Fine, I’ll go forward first then,’ she said holding up her hands with a tired sigh ‘Anyone who feels safe enough to follow me can feel free do so. But everyone remember, you need to walk forward slowly and carefully or you’ll get shot at. Don’t say that I didn’t warn you if you start tearing ahead.’ She began to calmly walk across the wasteland towards the tower, as if she was taking a pleasant walk in the park. She pulled her hood up to shade her face from the setting sun which cast her shadow far behind her and onto the crowd of fighters and scavengers. Amber hunched her shoulders shyly then shakily took a step out onto the wasteland. She slowly followed Xeann, not quite matching the calm and elegant pace the vampire had across the dry cracked land. It was good thinking for Xeann to pick the late afternoon, the land would have been too hot for Amber’s feet. Well, even enhanced people like her had limits. Sarah skipped across some of the wasteland and yelped when a gun’s laser hit the ground before her. Xeann turned to her with a sharp glare. ‘I said slowly and carefully, Sarah. What part of slowly and carefully do you not understand?’ Sarah flinched at her stern tone.  
‘O-Oh…but I was skipping slowly and carefully, very slowly and carefully even,’ Sarah pouted softly at the vampire and pouted more as she received a fierier glare ‘I swear I was anyway.’ Xeann sighed in frustration and pinched the bridge of her nose impatiently and continued to walk towards the tower with a dismissive shake of her head. Sheela sighed, shaking her head as she carefully walked over to her sister and held her hand. Sarah looked at her with a bright smile and began merrily skipping across the wasteland again. Sheela pulled her back sharply with a horrified gasp as she went too fast and nearly got hit by another large black ugly looking cannonball. Sarah yelped at the sudden assault, frowning in confusion and glared at the tower fiercely. Sheela rolled her eyes and squeezed Sarah’s hand gently.  
‘Come on, Sarah, I’ll help you learn what slowly and carefully means,’ she said with a warm smile. Sarah pulled a hurt face but complied with a sigh and a sulky pout, her shoulders sagging. The triplet sisters began to slowly walk across the wasteland, Sheela squeezing Sarah’s hand firmly whenever she was walking a bit too fast. Saphira carefully padded out into the wasteland next in her tame wolf form, a bit grumpy for having been in care for about five days because Madison ended up getting her fingers jinxed from a spell gone wrong and was unable to use magic for about three days. Around her neck was the tooth Cody had left with her, strung up with some dental floss. It hang next to the gold coin he had given to her as a birthday present. It was all the medical centre had to use for string apparently. Xeann had decided to wait for her, despite their rivalry issues, saying that the fighters would need time to get ready too. She also understood about Cody.  
‘Well, I don’t know about you lot, but I’m going next,’ Damon stretched his arms out with a strained grunt, flexed his biceps out and walked across the wasteland with a confident strut, chin tilted up slightly. Amber paused briefly when he overtook her and watched him behind his mother’s shadow. Their elegance and coolness in their walk seemed eerily similar, Amber curiously wondered to herself if it was because they were mother and son. Or it might just be that vampire thing again. Vienna whimpered frightfully and carefully walked across the wasteland to follow her uncle closely, keeping her body flat to the ground as she stared up at the guns and cannons cautiously. Amber glanced back to see that the fighters, one by one, were slowly following them across the wasteland, their eyes on the tower at all times. A sly smile spread across her face as she faced back to the tower and sighed.   
Xeann stopped suddenly after she passed the large dent where Sarah had landed the other day and abruptly held up an arm for everyone to stop. Amber paused with a confused frown then heard them. The loud clicks from the tower as they signalled the fact that they’ve been switched off or shut down. Either way, it didn’t feel right. Xeann narrowed her eyes suspiciously and looked down to the entrance of the tower to see Cody walking up to them casually. She bared her fangs in instinctual hatred while Cody raised a cool eyebrow, stopping a few metres away from her.  
‘Well,’ he drawled with a wicked smirk ‘and here I thought vampires would be too stupid to figure out the trick.’ Damon snarled softly but it wasn’t as loud and ferocious as his mother’s whose eyes flashed brightly as a feral hiss erupted from her. Vienna peered around Damon warily, staring up at him with her tail tucked in between her legs, conflicted on whether to snarl at Cody in hatred or not. Saphira, knowing it was safe now, ran up and turned human in front of Cody. She glowered at him as he smiled warmly at her, unaffected by her cold stare.  
‘Cody, give up,’ she said, looking up at him fiercely ‘We have you outnumbered and I know you’re not that much of an idiot to take on all of us. Don’t you dare be a coward either, I’m not letting you get away this time.’ Behind her chains rattled loudly, triggers on guns clicked noisily, whips cracked menacingly and metal swords and daggers slid out of their sheaths in an attempt to intimidate Cody. But Cody smirked and shook his head with a tired sigh. He cracked his neck into place and cracked his knuckles out while leering over his little cousin.  
‘Oh, my little Saphira,’ he said and placed a hand on Saphira’s head, as if to mock her height compared to his ‘You know me too well, my little cousin.’ He calmly raised a hand and clicked his fingers. The ground rumbled and Saphira yelped as she fell over when she couldn’t keep her stance. Vienna whined loudly and flattened her body close to the ground, ears flattening fearfully. Sarah fell over almost immediately and there was a crack when her face collided into the ground, indicating that she had broken her nose again. Sheela winced sympathetically as she knelt by her sister and began healing up the damage with the little healing power that she had. Amber’s toes dug into the ground as she held her arms up to a bracing position in case anything came flying towards her. She glanced at Xeann and gaped when she saw Xeann hadn’t been fazed by the sudden quake. She was balancing herself perfectly! In her high heel boots no less! Was there anything at all that this woman couldn’t do? Xeann stepped back warily when dust kicked up and several hundred suits of armours came out of the ground. She pulled her curved blades out and braced herself into a fighting position, eyeing each and every suit carefully.  
‘Are those…clay dolls?’ she murmured in a confused tone with a befuddled frown ‘I thought he had power over lightning? And if my memory serves me correctly, earth and lightning do not go together…’ She stepped back warily when Cody grinned widely, showing off his brilliant white teeth as energy sparked around his body. The crackling white bolts hugged his body comfortably as if making themselves as his personal elemental armour for battle. Amber whimpered when she saw the lightning and hid behind the nearest person.  
‘You should be honoured. This is a personal welcome from her Majesty the Queen,’ Cody said with a mocking bow ‘Please, enjoy it while you can. Her Majesty would be sorely disappointed for you to take displeasure in it.’ Thunderclouds swarmed above him in seconds, blocking out the sunset and a large bolt of lightning landed on his body. Saphira snarled ferociously as he grew into his feral wolf form and howled, turning into her own feral wolf form. A steady blizzard began to blow across the wasteland as she and Cody began to circle one another. Xeann smirked as she glanced at the fighters behind her.  
‘Well then? What are you lot waiting for?’ she asked with a raised eyebrow. Damon glanced back, mirrored her smirk and yelled a battle cry. Everyone behind joined him as they raced past the clash of the werewolves, their variety of weapons at the ready, and began fighting with the armoured clay dolls. The clay dolls pulled out their swords and lances to counter with them. Vienna scampered among the battles, still in her tame wolf form, and head-butted one clay doll rather harshly. Her eyes sparked as she focused her energy in her body and sent it through the clay doll. She swaggered and shook her head to recover from the head-butt, hoping she hadn’t fractured her skull. The clay dolls were rather hard and tough after all, or they’d be useless in battle. She glanced up and saw the clay doll looking down at her, ignoring what its comrades were doing and awaited orders from her. Vienna blinked.  
‘It worked?’ she murmured in wonder while tilting her head to the side curiously and examined the clay doll cautiously ‘It worked! Yes, it did work! I don’t believe it! After all these years of training, I managed to gain control over a clay doll! Woohoo!’ She barked happily with her tail wagging and jumped up a couple of feet into the air in joy. She landed neatly and dipped into a play bow. ‘Finally! My first ever clay doll that’s under my command!’ She chased her tail a couple of times to celebrate, barking in celebration then stopped and looked up at the clay doll. ‘Fight against the other clay dolls and help out my allies,’ she instructed. It responded by turning and raising a sword towards the other clay dolls and began fighting. Vienna lolled her tongue out happily but didn’t really fancy to head-butt another clay doll to pulse her control over earth into and make it help their side so looked around for anything else she could do. Her ears pricked up when she saw Xeann snatch Amber by the scruff and carry her over to the open entrance of the tower. Not wanting to miss out on any action, she bounded after them, dodging any attacks from the clay dolls around her. She slipped in before the door slid shut, nearly trapping her tail.  
‘Oh there you are, Vienna,’ Xeann said as she placed a very flustered Amber down and clicked her fingers into place ‘I was beginning to wonder whether you were coming along or not.’ Amber turned and saw Vienna as she turned into her human form. Vienna rolled her shoulders stiffly and sighed.  
‘You really didn’t think I’d miss out on the real action did you?’ she said gruffly and followed them up the stairs that were ahead of them in the dark cold room that they’d just come in ‘Tch.’ She brushed past her grandmother coldly and briskly. Xeann raised an eyebrow and smirked knowingly, following her up the stairs. Amber looked around curiously at the vast amount of space there was inside this tower. The floor and ceiling were made out of black, grey and white marble and the walls were made out of black metal, making the room feel colder than it was. Amber, rubbing her arms for some warmth, shivered as she followed Xeann closely up the stairs. The next couple of rooms they went past were more or less the same and Xeann frowned.  
‘By my count, we’re on the eighth floor by now,’ she murmured to herself thoughtfully as they ascended the next flight of stairs ‘Or we should be on the eighth floor by now anyway.’ Vienna grumbled to herself because she was sick and tired of climbing stairs and jogged up the next few steps in agitation. She froze when a horrid stench filled her nostrils. Wrinkling it after a few moments breathing it in, she coughed and groaned, shaking her head with a disgusted face.  
‘Ugh!’ she scowled and recoiled, holding her nose ‘What is that?! It’s horrible! It stinks like a troll in here!’ Amber smelt it once she reached halfway up the stairs and felt the humid atmosphere. Her eyes widened when she recognized the smell.  
‘That’s because there is a troll on this floor, Vienna,’ she murmured softly as she reached the floor. Xeann looked up and saw that the ceiling was rather high.  
‘Well this room is designed for a troll to stay and live in,’ she said wistfully and looked ahead of her ‘Oh, and there’s the troll.’ Amber’s eyes widened as she saw a large hideous bulk of grey flesh standing in front of a door with a huge club clenched tightly in its hand. It snorted as its eyes scanned the room slowly. Vienna stepped back with a wary look towards the huge creature when she spotted it. Xeann froze as she carefully pulled her curved blades out.  
‘It can’t see us,’ she whispered.  
‘Right, we need to find a way to get past it then,’ Vienna muttered.  
‘No, trolls are often short sighted,’ Amber said in a hushed voice and grabbed Vienna before she could try and run past the troll ‘If we get any closer, he’ll see us…’  
‘Or she,’ Xeann muttered pointedly. Vienna huffed and folded her arms.  
‘Well then,’ she shrugged and took a deep breath ‘How about I take on the real action early and get this ugly fella out of the way for you two to go ahead?’ Xeann cocked an eyebrow in surprise.  
‘Why, I thought you’d want to go ahead alone, challenge the Queen and find your parents?’ she said bemusedly. Vienna scoffed.  
‘I’ll catch up with you,’ she said with a scowl ‘Taking down a troll has been on my to-do list for a long time now.’  
‘Are you sure you wouldn’t want a little help?’ Xeann pulled a worried face.  
‘Nan, just shut your mouth,’ Vienna snarled nastily to her ‘Whenever I make a decision, I never change my mind. Ever.’ Xeann sighed and shook her head.  
‘Whatever you wish, off you go,’ she said dismissively and folded her arms. Vienna nodded firmly and closed her eyes. She swelled up and grew to about five foot five, lilac fur erupted all over her body. Her bodice tightened around her chest as she gained height as her leather trousers split by the ends and bright lilac nails sprouted out of her boots. Growling, she kicked the boots off and howled, startling the troll out of its daze.  
‘Oi, ugly!’ she snarled loudly ‘Down here! I want to fight you, you useless clump of flesh!’ She lumbered over to the troll and howled shrilly, catching the troll’s immediate attention. Amber’s eyes widened when she realised that Vienna only reached as high as the knee of the troll. The troll blinked and stared at her before roaring and swinging its club in her direction. Amber opened her mouth to shout in warning but Xeann clamped a hand firmly around her mouth.  
‘Don’t, we’ll attract the troll’s attention and ruin the meaning of Vienna’s sacrifice,’ she whispered as Vienna jumped on the club and lunged for the troll, her jaws wide open to sink into mouldy flesh. Amber paled when Vienna landed on the troll’s shoulder and bite down on its neck hard. Xeann pulled a disgusted face. ‘That can’t taste nice,’ she said before hurrying Amber over to the doors. They opened them and Amber blinked as she saw a dead end.  
‘OK, how do we get out of here?’ she asked turning to Xeann ‘There’s no way out apart from the way we’ve just come.’ Xeann raised an eyebrow and pressed a button on the side of the metal room.  
‘You haven’t been to a city before, have you?’ she asked with a soft smile when the doors swiftly closed behind them and the floor suddenly jolted harshly while the lift began to go up. Amber wobbled and landed on her knees in fright. Xeann simpered lightly. ‘Aw, bless, you adorable little thing. When this is over, you’re going to come to my home city with me so I can teach you the life outside your isolated little village.’ Amber was helped to her feet as she looked down at the scene between Vienna and the troll. She gasped as the troll grabbed Vienna and threw her into the wall.  
‘Should we really be leaving her behind?’ she asked looking up to Xeann with a concerned face. Xeann shrugged.  
‘She wanted to take down a troll by herself, she’ll take down a troll by herself,’ she said with a thoughtful look then turned to Amber ‘She’ll include a lot of friendly attacks if I got involved.’ Amber winced again as they disappeared out of sight.  
‘She hasn’t taken down a troll before has she?’ she said nervously and looked up at Xeann. Xeann shook her head.  
‘We live far away from any kind of trolls,’ she said ‘The city is mainly only for those who have a humanoid form. That way it restricts the creatures that we’re allowed to see, including any Abnormal and creatures that can’t morph.’ Amber hummed curiously.  
‘I might visit a city after this is all over then,’ she smiled thoughtfully ‘It might be more enjoyable.’ Xeann chuckled and ruffled her hair.  
‘I’ll tell you what,’ she said and crouched down to look Amber in the eye ‘I’ll give you and your whole family a tour of my city. It isn’t much now since the Nightmare Blanket ruined most of it with these new monsters and diseases. It will be a nice experience for all of you and I’m sure I can take your little brother to some of the best toy shops. How old is he now?’ Amber snorted at the mention of toys.  
‘Jasper should be about twelve now,’ she said after a moment’s pause ‘I’ll tell you now that he never was interested in toys when he was younger. But he always had a fascination about buildings in the picture books we had in our early childhood. Perhaps going to some famous buildings in your city would be a better idea. He would appreciate it greatly if we did that instead of going to toy shops. Unless the structure of the toy shop is interesting.’ Xeann laughed at the idea.  
‘None of my children were ever interested in the buildings that I took them to visit,’ she simpered ‘I would certainly love to get to know your little Jasper. He sounds simply adorable.’ Amber smiled softly.  
‘Be careful with him,’ she said ‘He’s terribly shy around strangers.’ Xeann smirked.  
‘Oh, I’ll be careful with the little dear, don’t worry,’ she assured her as they continued going up.


	13. Forbidden and Unknown

Amber groaned softly to herself when her feet began to sting and itch after walking for so long. She abruptly crashed into Xeann’s arm when it suddenly stuck out in front of her before they could go through the narrow tunnel across the next room, yelping as she hit her nose when she did so. With a pained whine, she staggered back in surprise and looked up at her confusedly, rubbing her nose sorely. Amber hated it when something caught her off guard and caused her unnecessary pain. She found it incredibly annoying. Her amber eyes silently asked Xeann why they had suddenly stopped. Xeann looked at her and raised an eyebrow with a mischievous smirk.  
‘Life lesson for you, young lady, look where you’re going before you run off,’ she said sternly with the cheeky wag of her finger and a sly smile before getting a curved blade out. Amber sighed sleepily as she sat down with a tired groan and rubbed her sore feet tenderly. She had lost count to how many floors they had ascended but Xeann sounded pretty sure that they were at least past the twenty-third floor by now, which sounded like a very big number to her. No, Amber had never been good at any academic subjects, especially numbers and maths. Amber watched as Xeann stepped back, her curved blade braced into a throwing position. Her blood red eyes narrowed as she drew her arm back and lunged it forward to send her blade hurtling through the corridor in front of them. Amber yelped in shock as several lasers were thrown around the corridor and hitting the hidden guns that were opposite to them. The curved blade turned like a boomerang and went back towards Xeann rapidly, threatening to behead her. Xeann quickly moved her head to the side so it wouldn’t decapitate her. She hissed in annoyed pain as it nicked a bit of blood from her neck, leaving a clean thin cut along her pale skin. Amber stared on through the smoke of trashed guns with wide amber eyes and a slack jaw. She opened and closed her mouth, speechless and frozen in silent admiration.  
‘Wow,’ she managed to mutter.  
‘Not wow,’ Xeann corrected her irritably as she placed a hand on her cut and rubbing it tenderly ‘No, not wow at all. I cut myself after that stupid stunt. That is really far from wow or any other exclamation. That’s pathetic and very unimpressive, it always does that, stupid blade. I never will know why it always tries to aim for my head instead of coming back to my hand. Now that would have been a brilliant wow for me if I could catch it and struck a cool pose.’ Amber just stared on in awe, her jaw slack, simply amazed at her modesty as well as her skills.  
‘Wow,’ she repeated softly ‘I don’t care what you thought about that, but I found it brilliant…’ Even her father or her mother wouldn’t have been able to do that. But then again, her father never really showed her how to avoid getting hurt while going down a corridor that had hidden guns and lasers and he didn’t wield cool curved blades like Xeann did. Her mother wouldn’t have been able to do this kind of thing either, she was far too nice, loving, kind and innocent to be in dangerous situations like this, at least that’s what Amber hoped. She has never wielded any kind of blade in her life, just the one electric powered whip. Xeann looked down and raised an eyebrow amusedly before helping her up to her feet and retrieving her blade.  
‘Come on, you little rugged brawler,’ she said pleasantly with a sweet smile that looked just as sweet before walking down the gun-free corridor ‘The Queen won’t stay in the same place forever, you know.’ Her boots clicked on the marble floor loudly and her walk was relaxed, steady and calm, as if this whole taking down the tower was just a simple saunter in the park, there was no need to worry about anything. She waved a hand dismissively to wave away the smoke that was starting to fill the room and coughed lightly as it filled her nose. Amber glanced up at her curiously as she tried to keep up her pace.  
‘But how on Ethylias did you know that it was lined up with deadly hidden guns and lasers?’ she asked with a confused and curious frown ‘Are you like a psychic vampire with super powers as well as a seemingly invincible in battle one with super strength? Either or is alright for me.’ Xeann laughed loudly at her befuddled expression, her voice echoing off the walls. Amber tilted her head in confusion with a frown as she caught her breath after her short laugh. Xeann wiped a couple of tears away from her eyes and sighed dreamily.  
‘My dear, dear Amber,’ Xeann simpered, covering her mouth with one hand and patted Amber’s head fondly ‘You need to be more observant in this kind of situation. So far, all the floors we’ve been on were more or less the same design and size. Seeing a corridor go down one of those floors seemed suspicious so it was just a little test to see if it was safe. It’s better to be safe than sorry anyway. My parents raised me to be sharp-eyed so this kind of thing is easy for me.’ Amber blinked blankly and tilted her head to the side with an even more confused frown. Xeann looked down at her and blinked in surprise. ‘What’s the matter?’  
‘I was trained to only fight things head on and get the job finished no matter what obstacle there may be,’ Amber shrugged dismissively with an unconcerned face ‘But even if I do fight against someone, I tend to avoid battles, especially unnecessary ones. I hate mess, especially if blood is involved. Being tactical is hard work though… Hmm…I’m not sure which is worse actually. Being messy or being tactical…’ Xeann laughed loudly and cooed at Amber’s bewildered frown and patted her head fondly. Amber looked up at her with a frown as she cooed and pinched her cheek painfully.  
‘All you Enhanced creatures,’ she said and shook her head with a disappointed sigh ‘It turns out that you really do have more brawn than brain in battle. I really hoped it wasn’t true when I met you.’ Amber scowled and batted her hand away.  
‘I see now why Vienna dislikes you so much,’ she muttered when they reached the stairs and began ascending to the next floor ‘You mock everyone too much.’  
‘Oi, I do not!’ Amber ducked when Xeann tried to clip her around the ear ‘Come back here, young lady!’ Amber giggled and ran up the stairs to get away from the annoyed vampire. She paused when she was hit into a thick wall of humid air. She shook her head after rushing into a different climate too fast as Xeann caught up with her and looked around curiously. ‘This room looks like a marsh of sorts,’ she murmured observably, noting the exotic plants, the warm mist and the wetland spread across the room. Mist was visible in the air as vines crawled up the side of the walls. Amber looked up and tilted her head to the side curiously and she stepped back warily when she heard a low hiss.  
‘It has snakes,’ she murmured, looking around suspiciously and looked up at Xeann who looked in the direction of the hiss with a sparkle in her eye. Xeann squealed suddenly and jumped happily.  
‘I absolutely love snakes!’ she muttered excitedly as Amber raised an eyebrow at her behaviour ‘Oh, how can anyone not love them for their lovely scaly bodies and the way they embrace you around your neck and arms when you pick them up to cuddle them? And the way they hiss at you when you see them is so cute too! I wish I can have an adorable hiss like them… And who could possibly not adore their charming little black and pink forked tongues? Oh, I could just give them a kiss whenever I see those pretty tongues poke out of their mouths!’ Amber scowled at her behaviour. She was starting to act like her mother when she had just bought cute little dresses to dress her and Jasper up in when they were little children. Yes, poor Jasper was one of Crystal’s dressing up victims. Amber was delighted when she discovered the perfect blackmail for her little brother. Not that she would ever blackmail her dear little brother…  
‘Anything else you’d like to compliment the little devils on?’ she asked dryly with a raised eyebrow ‘Because I have enough reasons to insult them.’ Xeann hummed thoughtfully, placing a finger on her chin.  
‘Well, their skins are good in medicine after they’ve shed them,’ she said ‘That helped me persevere through my silver poisoning. I can’t really thank snakes enough apart from love them with all my deceased heart.’ She sighed dreamily while Amber scowled distastefully.  
‘I really hate them, especially the cobras in the desert,’ she muttered and patted her several snake bite marks on her arms guardedly ‘They never liked me either when they saw me, they always loved to pump my body full of their stupid lethal poison that I need to pump out afterwards. Their poison tastes really bitter so it’s hard to swallow it after you suck it out of a wound.’ Xeann scoffed and giggled softly.  
‘If you know how to handle them properly, you’d adore them,’ she said ‘I have a massive tank with approximately two hundred and fifty three snakes, all different breeds, back at home. I need to expand it into a whole room soon…’  
‘Two hundred and fifty three snakes?!’ Amber exclaimed loudly, not really knowing how big that number was ‘How on Ethylias can you look after all of them and where did you get them from?!’ Xeann simpered.  
‘I originally got ten on my tenth birthday from my parents, five different breeds and I decided to let them breed among each other and hey presto!’ She giggled and sighed contemplatively. ‘Oh, my little babies must be missing me, the poor dears,’ she sighed wistfully ‘I hope Crystal is helping my children to feed them regularly, to clean them out properly, to wash their scales at the right temperature and to keep a regular check on their eggs… Speaking of which, I wonder if any of them have hatched after I left. Oh my poor, poor babies must be missing so much…’ Amber was going to question about which babies she was talking about until the room suddenly rumbled and large ripples formed among the watery dank marsh. Xeann blinked and stepped back as there was a loud angry hiss, bracing herself for a battle. Amber gasped as something suddenly shot out of the murky water, spraying ice cold liquid everywhere. Amber looked up as the creature turned its attention on them, its bright yellow eyes gleaming through the light mist. Amber scowled at it in contempt.   
‘Great,’ she muttered sarcastically ‘That’s just really great… It’d better not be poisonous or I’ll have a hard time sucking out the poison.’ It was a giant black snake which looked about thirty feet long but the rest of its body was submerged in the water so it was hard to tell its exact size. Xeann gasped and stared at it in wonder.   
‘A Titanoboa! I never thought I’d be able to see on in real life!’ she gasped in awe with an excited squeal then frowned curiously ‘But I thought you guys went extinct completely last century… If you didn’t, then I demand to know where I can buy a baby one…’ Amber gaped at her.  
‘But I thought Titanoboas went extinct about fifty eight million years ago,’ she said in a puzzled tone. Xeann turned to her and her frown deepened.  
‘You don’t know the ninth category, do you?’ she said as she furrowed her brow.  
‘There’s a ninth category on Ethylias?!’ Amber exclaimed ‘I thought there was only eight since the beginning of time!’ Xeann suddenly grabbed her and jumped away from their spot when the Titanoboa aimed to strike them. The room shook when it collided into the metal wall, leaving a nasty dent. Amber gaped as Xeann landed far away from their original spot and they crouched down in the long grass.  
‘Yes, there’s a ninth category, quite rarely known about actually,’ Xeann whispered to her ‘It was created about a couple of centuries ago, maybe a bit earlier, since people began to get interested in science and the history of Ethylias and conducted experiments to explore the mysteries Ethylias has left behind.’ Amber blinked and leaned in as Xeann kept an eye on the Titanoboa. ‘It’s called the Forbidden and Unknown category,’ she continued in a hushed tone ‘It’s a separate category for creatures such as those who don’t live on Ethylias, which are known as the Unknown, and extinct creatures that were created in a science lab like dinosaurs, or mechanical creations such as robots or even real life creatures that have been mixed together to create another, which are known as the Forbidden.’  
‘But why are they forbidden?’ Amber asked with a confused frown.  
‘There’s a reason why Ethylias chose to make certain species extinct and most of the population decided that it was best to leave them to be extinct,’ Xeann explained and gazed at the Titanoboa wistfully ‘Although I really want to take it home with me, it has to be extinct because that was Ethylias’s decision fifty eight million years ago.’ Xeann sighed and shook her head sadly. ‘Also, science shouldn’t be tampered with, no matter what the situation is. Creatures that haven’t existed before come out of those science labs and they themselves are forbidden to exist because Ethylias did not create them for a very important reason.’ Amber paused for a moment and bit her lip.  
‘I’ve heard about one story,’ she murmured grimly ‘There was this young girl who came across one of those man-made creatures and got injured because it wasn’t stable mentally. They managed to save her in the end…’   
‘And shortly after, the young girl had her privileges taken away from her when she got back because she tried to run away,’ Xeann growled softly, startling Amber ‘Yes, she was one of my many daughters. Jade, always loved to look for adventure but when I set her a couple of limits because she was thirteen at the time, she got moody and tried to run away. I guess those kinds of creatures are good for something in the end…’ Amber watched as the Titanoboa looked around, its tongue flickering out to try of its mouth and sense them.  
‘You said the last of the Titanoboas died last century?’ she whispered. Xeann frowned and nodded.  
‘I remember my parents saying they got engaged on the day they announced it,’ she said ‘I guess the Queen, however old she might be, must have found one before that day and had hidden it away from the world so it looked like they had gone extinct. I must say, she has a good eye for picking her pets, apart from her little guard dog who’s an idiot…’ She glanced around the room and spotted a door. ‘Right, Amber, I need you to make a dash for it as I tackle it down and get it away from your scent.’ Amber hesitated and looked up at her.  
‘Without you to help me when I need you?’ she asked in horror with a mortified expression ‘But I can’t go on my own! I’ll get killed without you there to help me!’ Xeann grabbed her suddenly and dived into the water as the Titanoboa lunged for them and crashed into the long grass. Amber spluttered and coughed as she surfaced, immediately splashing about in a panic. Xeann grabbed her by the scruff of her top and hauled her next to the door and patted Amber’s back as she spluttered and shook her head out. ‘Sorry, I can’t swim very well,’ she muttered and looked up at her ‘But do you see what I mean here?! You’ve just saved me on two occasions in the past five seconds!’ Xeann smiled sympathetically as she patted Amber on the shoulder.  
‘Amber, you’ve survived by yourself for roughly three and a half months since your family got taken away from you and you were seriously injured and ill,’ she said sincerely ‘I can guarantee that you will be able to take down anything that’s ahead of you. You just need some more confidence in yourself and your abilities. Look, I wouldn’t let you go ahead on your own if I thought it was too dangerous for you.’ Amber sighed and hunched her shoulders.  
‘But…’  
‘No buts, young lady,’ Xeann scolded with a tut and wagged her finger sternly ‘Look, I know you can reach the Queen and find your father, Amber, there’s something about you which makes me feel that sure.’ Amber pulled a pleading face and glanced at the Titanoboa warily.  
‘What if you get hurt, injured or worse?’ she asked. Xeann scoffed.  
‘Snakes, no matter how big, can never hurt me,’ she assured her with a confident grin and helped Amber up ‘I have a very special way with them. Now go, I’ll catch you up sooner or later. Don’t you dare wait for me, OK? The Queen might want to leave the tower if we get too close to her and you need to get to her as soon as possible, don’t you?’ Amber hesitated before hugging her.   
‘Please survive,’ she whispered softly with pleading eyes. Xeann cooed adoringly and hugged her back before kicking the metal doors open, throwing her into the next room which had a spiral staircase and closed the doors while jumping and landing on top of the Titanoboa after it crashed when it lunged for the girls again. She took off her heavy cloak and cast it aside, grabbing her curved blades and pulling them out of their sheaths, ready for battle. She sighed mournfully.   
‘Please forgive me, you beautiful, beautiful creature,’ she murmured with a pained expression ‘But there was a reason why your species died out and I must comply with Ethylias’s wishes.’ She dug the blades into the body, making the giant snake hiss in pain and snapped its head up to send her flying across the dank room. Xeann cartwheeled through the air and landed in a muddy marshy area, near the window which showed the continuous battle between the fighters and the clay dolls and let in a little bit of natural moonlight. She groaned and raised her head, her eyes widening when she saw a cluster of half a dozen eggs, half her body size, in front of her. ‘Wait…’ she tilted her head to the side with a confused frown ‘There’s two of you?’ She felt the room rumble and something burst the surface behind the cluster of eggs. The Titanoboa flickered its black tongue at her and hissed menacingly. Xeann stared up thoughtfully, not intimidated by its protective glare. ‘Oh,’ she said and smiled softly ‘There’s two of you.’  
With a lopsided grin, she rolled away from the nest as Mama Titanoboa lunged for her immediately after her blunt statement. Xeann ran over into the long grass and dived into the water. She swam down and judged that there was about twenty five metres of water below her, enough room for both Titanoboas to swim about in. There seemed to be enough room for some children too. Xeann felt disturbance above her and dove deeper to avoid getting snapped up by Mama Titanoboa. Xeann began to swim her way to the surface again as Mama Titanoboa sunk deeper into the water. She gasped as soon as she broke the surface and crawled out onto some marsh, coughing hoarsely as she lay down for a moment to catch her breath. She heard a menacing hiss behind her and turned to see Papa Titanoboa behind her, flicking his large black tongue at her threateningly. It was then Xeann realised in horror her lack of grip in her hands. Glancing at her bare hands in despair, Xeann groaned and sagged her shoulders.  
‘Great,’ she muttered as she stood up and removed her bodice ‘It’s a good thing that they don’t rust easily or I’ll be completely unarmed.’ Underneath the leather clothing, the vampire wore a corset and underneath that she wore a black bra, covering and supporting her weighted breasts. She cast both corset and bodice aside, stretching her pale voluptuous figure with a strained grunt. She kicked off her high heel boots, pouting briefly as they sunk into the mud then turned to Papa Titanoboa, stretching her arms out above her head. ‘Hey, your wife’s getting jealous,’ she giggled and pointed behind him when Mama Titanoboa came out of the water. With a grin, Xeann lunged for Papa Titanoboa, clinging onto his neck. She clung to him as he swung her around angrily, hissing and splashing his body about to shake her off. There was another hiss and Xeann took her cue to slip off Papa Titanoboa while Mama Titanoboa lunged to try and catch her. There was a collision between the large snakes as Xeann entered the water and began swimming down to where her blades lay where they were dropped underwater.  
She began letting out a stream of air bubbles steadily as pressure began to get to her and she began to countdown the potential last seconds of her life. Xeann had never liked diving this deep, she loved swimming underwater but not when it was a matter of life or death. Or in her case, stay on Ethylias to continue life or go to Hell like any other creature that was damned by God. Xeann heard loud splashes above her and didn’t dare to look up to see how far the Titanoboas were behind her. She didn’t have time for any distractions, she had to grab her blades and fight them to her dying…uh…until she’s no longer able to walk on Ethylias anymore. Xeann’s vision began to blur as she persevered towards her goal. She thrust her arms forward as she ran out of breath and grabbed the handles of her blades. She winced in pain as one of the Titanoboas thrust themselves forward and one of their fangs scraped itself against her thigh. Blood began to seep out of her scrape and Xeann began to feel dizzy and light-headed from lack of air. She floated up slightly and aimed to stab one of the Titanoboa’s eyes in a last attempt to fight. If Xeann was going to pass on to the next life, she was going to pass on fighting. She hit its head somewhere which made it suddenly lurch upwards, sending her spiralling up towards the surface.  
Xeann would have screamed in pain if she hadn’t been out of air as she painfully felt her ears go pop from the change of pressure and her lungs sing as air filled them once she surfaced and crashed into one of the walls. Pain exploded throughout her whole body as she fell onto the softy marshy land. Xeann gasped and lay for a while, closing her eyes as she sighed.  
‘That was too close,’ she murmured and rolled over to hide in the long grass beside her when the Titanoboas rose from the water ‘Too close for my sanity…’ She breathed quietly and regained her energy as the Titanoboas began to search for her. She closed her eyes and pushed herself more into the marsh to try and camouflage herself. ‘Good luck wherever you are, Amber.’


	14. The Labyrinth

Amber panted as she jogged up the spiralling staircase, her feet aching as they continuously met with the rough cold stone stairs. When she finally reached the top, she sat down and rubbed them soothingly as they throbbed painfully, her chest heaving up and down as she caught her breath. She then began massaging her aching legs as they screamed in pain from being overused. She breathed harshly, running a hand through her hand through sweaty hair and forehead. She sighed and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Amber was officially tired of stairs. They only had one staircase back at the village in their small home. Amber hardly used it though, she preferred climbing up the side of the wall outside the house then climbing through the window. Her mother wasn’t too impressed and father explained that it was because she had to get used to climbing when being an assassin. Apparently, Amber would be a good sniper if she can handle a gun. Though, Amber preferred close combat than anything else  
‘I never thought I’d be this unfit,’ she rasped and yawned tiredly ‘Damn, this is much harder than I thought.’ She yawned deeper and rubbed her eyes sleepily. ‘I need a caffeine patch to get through this stupid tower,’ she said as she remembered her father’s training and his top tip on how to stay awake during a mission. She slowly got up and examined her surroundings. The room was colder than the wetland room below her and stone grey walls, with small candles hung on them, stood tall on either side of her, castling tall shadows onto her. Around her were four passages. Amber looked from one to the other and bit her lip. ‘This is why I need Xeann for this,’ she muttered as she spun around to get a good look at the passageways. She sighed in frustration and shook her head. ‘Why does there have to be a labyrinth like this when I had to leave Xeann behind with a giant prehistoric snake that could potentially kill her?’ she asked with a frustrated sigh ‘This just isn’t my day…’  
‘Rrrggh…’ Amber paled as she heard a low growl echo through the room and paled further when she recognized what kind of growl it was and what it had come from. She swallowed and looked around cautiously and sighed. She felt a chilly breeze pass her and shuddered, rubbing her bare arms for warmth. The thin clothes that she had borrowed from Sarah weren’t exactly useful to wear in cold places like this place. Amber’s legs shook like jelly as she suddenly felt very nervous in a damp and dimly lit environment like this. Especially if it was crawling with creatures that she wasn’t particularly looking forward to meeting.  
‘It’s alright, Amber,’ she chanted to herself softly, lacing her hands together and closing her eyes, as if she was praying ‘You can get through this. You can get through this on your own. It’s for your parents and for Jasper. You just need to find your courage, brave this labyrinth and go to the next obstacle course, then you can reach the Queen. You don’t need mother to help you get through this, no, you have to be a big girl now. Yes, you can do this, just ignore the scary sounding noises that are coming out of the passageways…’  
‘Rarrgh…’ Amber gasped as she heard another growl, except it was louder than the last one and it seemed closer. She rubbed her arms a bit more vigorously and whimpered, calmly closing her eyes to compose herself and find some inner strength. She began to breathe in and out calmly, blocking out everything that was around her. She blocked out the ominous growls that echoed through the labyrinth. She blocked out the faint smell of rotting meat that might be lying in the passageways. She blocked out the chilly wind that passed her every so now and then, giving her goosebumps. She soon calmed down and opened her eyes, looking ahead blankly before talking to herself again.  
‘Right, I just need to pick one and run, right?’ She glanced at all of them quickly and sighed tiredly, shaking her head. ‘Around the assassin’s home and life,’ she chanted while pointing her finger to a different passageway after every different word ‘goes the assassin’s ex-wife with a butcher’s knife and a chest full of strife.’ She ran down the pathway that she had stopped at after her chant and stopped suddenly when she looked around the corner and saw a minotaur at the end of the corridor. It was tearing at a large chunk of meat, chewing it thoughtfully then grunting in approval before eating more meat. Amber held her breath and stepped back carefully. She froze immediately when she stepped on a small slate of stone that had come off the wall. The minotaur snapped its head up at the sound immediately and snorted steam out of its nose loudly. Amber turned sharply and ran back down the way she had come from as fast as she could. The minotaur roared loudly and Amber went down the next passageway that she saw to try and get the minotaur off her scent.  
‘GRAAA!’ Amber gasped silently as she turned the corner and the minotaur crashed into the labyrinth wall, shaking it slightly. She continued to run but was head-butted into the wall at the next turn. She froze when the minotaur’s forehead was firmly against her back, its horns trapping her against the wall. She didn’t move as its hands grabbed her wrists and it carefully pulled it horns out from the wall. She was turned carefully and Amber felt slightly sick when she saw the golden circle embedded on its forehead. That circle meant that he was a bull minotaur, an alpha male. When there was an alpha male, there was surely a herd of minotaurs in this labyrinth somewhere. If there’s a herd of minotaurs in this labyrinth, there was a chance that there were annoying but deadly children minotaurs too. Children minotaurs didn’t hunt until they were adults. Minotaurs ate anything with flesh and organs. An alpha male was the best hunter in the pack. The alpha male has her trapped. She was going to be turned into a nice juicy dinner for several hungry minotaurs. Amber had never ever beaten a minotaur in a fight before. Amber swallowed worriedly. This was going to end messily.   
The bull minotaur sniffed her, making her scrunch her nose when she smelt the rotten meat off his breath. He began to nudge her head gently, but when he nudged her too hard, Amber’s reaction was to nudge back irritably. The bull minotaur raised his head and stared at her with his dark green eyes. Amber didn’t dare move a muscle until he ran a cold wet tongue up her cheek. She flinched and rubbed her cheek in revulsion with a light repulsed shudder. The bull minotaur swung her onto his shoulder and began walking off. Amber didn’t struggle in case she got him angry, and she knew how nasty it was to be near an angry minotaur. If it was an angry bull minotaur then that would be even more dangerous. Amber tried to look over her shoulder to try and remember the way he was going so she had a planned escape route when she ran away. Amber glanced down at the bull minotaur’s head.   
‘Can you talk?’ The bull minotaur snorted and mooed, flicking his head right then left sharply. ‘Not even a few merged or unclear words?’ Another quick snort and sharp flick of the head. ‘Oh, OK thanks for letting me know.’ Minotaurs could learn how to talk but the wild ones had limited vocabulary. There were those who didn’t know how to talk but those were the feral and rough ones. Those types were extremely rare though and only found in the harshest of places. Even though they were feral, they were classed in the Dark category as opposed to the Abnormal category. The Queen must have some really good contacts to have a herd of minotaurs who couldn’t speak at all and were very feral in her tower. But the bull minotaur can understand human speech so she had to be very careful on what to say. Amber tensed as she saw a young minotaur scurry out of the next corridor and paused to look up at her hungrily.  
‘Grrpmh,’ went the bull minotaur grumpily and leered over the young minotaur. The young child minotaur squealed by the intimidation and scampered back down the corridor from whence it came. The bull minotaur followed it and Amber’s eyes widened when she saw that ahead was a room with about a dozen or more minotaurs and straw beds around for them to lay. In one corner, a group of young minotaurs tussled and play fought amongst themselves, letting out playful and painful squeals. A cluster of female minotaurs, Amber couldn’t tell if they were old or young, stood elsewhere, watching a couple of large male minotaurs fight uncontrollably in the middle of the room. One female minotaur cleaned her child as it retreated from its fight with the other children minotaurs. The bull minotaur snorted loudly with a quiet roar, alerting everyone in the room of his presence. Everything went silent as every minotaur stopped what they were doing and lined up for the bull minotaur to pass through to the large straw bed at the other side of the room. Amber wanted to disappear and run when she saw the many pairs of hungry eyes land on her. The bull minotaur grunted angrily and Amber felt the gazes leave her.   
The bull minotaur roughly set her down into a seating position on his straw bed and grunted to the rest of the minotaurs, letting them go back to their own business. Amber shifted uncomfortably as the bull minotaur settled down next to her and nudged her with his head gently. Amber didn’t really understand what the nudging was about but it really annoyed her eventually so she head-butted him on the centre of his mark with a growl. He pushed back harshly, sending her falling backwards and onto her back. Amber began to worry as he crawled on top of her and nudged her head with his again. He snorted softly and ran his tongue up her face. Amber pulled a disgusted face and bared with it. She saw out of the corner of her eye a male minotaur doing the same with a female minotaur who was head-butting him back eagerly. Her pupils dilated as realisation struck her like a comet. The bull minotaur thought that she was consenting to be his mate. Oh dear. Amber shakily opened her mouth.  
‘I-I really think you’ve mistaken me…’ she stuttered ‘This isn’t what I have agreed to, really…’ An angry growl erupted from the bull minotaur’s throat and Amber then remembered that this was a feral bull minotaur that she was dealing with. It wouldn’t be a major surprise to find out that this kind of minotaur could kill his mate if she wasn’t consenting. The bull minotaur nuzzled her and Amber lay flat on her back to stay away from him. It was a bad move when she realised his immediate reaction of completely going over her and licking her cheek. Amber shuddered in repulse as it began to nose her clothes that covered her body.  
Amber’s body shook and she looked around desperately for an escape route. She looked up at the exit and bit her lip. She couldn’t out run the bull minotaur, she had tried and failed that before. She yawned deeply as she realised exactly how comfortable and warm the straw bed was beneath her. The bull minotaur snorted down her neck and she perked up when she stared into his green eyes. She couldn’t surpass a second yawn and the bull minotaur softly nuzzled her contently with a pleased snort. Amber’s eyelids grew heavy as she was turned on her side and the bull minotaur wrapped his arms around her tightly. Amber felt warm and sleepier than before as she curled up and closed her eyes. The bull minotaur snorted contently and began breathing deeply to indicate he was going to sleep too. Amber sighed softly as a content smile slowly appeared on her face as she began falling into the world of slumber. She gently dozed off after a few minutes. It had been a while since she had been in such a comfortable state before going to sleep. At her village, she had the discomfort of the Zennalpha plague when she slept. She couldn’t remember much of Vigour Village and the beds weren’t very comfortable in Magia Town. This straw bed seemed so comfortable and Amber could feel the bull minotaur’s blood pulse through his body and rushed past hers to make her feel warm enough to feel drowsy enough to forget her worries and go to sleep.   
But when Amber dove deeper into the land of dreams, she had a flash of fear, suffering and horror, making her snap her eyes open. She suddenly remembered that dreams didn’t exist in this world anymore because of the Nightmare Blanket. She couldn’t possibly sleep, even if she wanted to. She jerked with a silent gasp in the bull minotaur’s grip which tightened at her sudden movement. Amber hugged the bull minotaur’s arms and stared at the exit, remembering her mission, remembering her target and remembering that she shouldn’t be lying down and taking a nice nap. She had to get to the Queen and defeat her, find her father, get rid of the Nightmare Blanket, find Jasper and her mother then go back to life as normal in the village. She had to get out of this predicament.  
‘Grr…’ Amber paled when the bull minotaur growled in his sleep and shook her head. She had to conquer this fear. She just needed to slip out of his grip, tiptoe quietly out of the room and run for her life until she found the exit of this damned labyrinth. Amber took a deep breath and turned to the bull minotaur slowly. Amber didn’t have a pretty experience with a minotaur when she was around about ten years old. The worst part was that she was a child minotaur and she was tame. Plus, she was a girl. She was named May which Amber thought was a pathetic name. Amber was playing with her in the village until she proposed a play fight. The result ended with her sporting several bruises on her back and a gash in her side. May was unscathed. Of course, Amber became wary of minotaurs as she grew up. But when the Nightmare Blanket came, May had to leave with her parents to find somewhere that was safe and could provide enough resources for them to survive on. It would be quite an easy task, considering that minotaurs could last weeks without water and their immune system was practically invincible. They could feed on anything that had flesh if they had to.  
Amber carefully wrapped her arms around the bull minotaur loosely and gave him a quick hug to make it look like she was accepting her fate. The bull minotaur snorted and loosened his grip somewhat, nuzzling the side of her head. He unconsciously licked her cheek and Amber pulled a face as she smelt the rotting meat off his breath. Other than another minotaur, who would want a boyfriend to have horrible breath? Certainly not Amber, she preferred the more civil kind. She gently reached out and pulled out straw so that it would replace her in the bull minotaur’s arms. She eased his arms around the straw carefully, wriggled out of his grip gradually stood up slowly and briskly walked out, mindful to not disturb any of the slumbering minotaurs in the room.   
She had only turned two corners when she heard an enraged roar echo throughout the whole labyrinth. She didn’t think as she sprinted down the labyrinth, turning sharply around corners and not thinking twice if she had the choice of two paths. She skidded around another corner hurriedly, stubbing her toe into the ground accidentally and ran down the next pathway. She screeched to a halt when she realised that there was only a dead end in front of her. Once she turned, her heart did a panicked la-dup when she saw a rather large and bulky minotaur blocking her way.   
Leaning against the dead end, she kept her breathing normal as she watched it carefully. It wasn’t the bull minotaur, thankfully, other than it certainly did look like it could fight for becoming the bull minotaur. Well, it looked big enough to fight the bull minotaur in this labyrinth. With a slow and nervous gulp, Amber got an idea and carefully stepped away from the wall. She suddenly snorted challengingly. The minotaur snorted warily and tilted its head to the side in confusion. Amber stomped her foot on the ground, bucking her head up and down to challenge the minotaur for a fight. The minotaur seemed thoroughly enraged by the idea of being challenged by a human lookalike and roared, charging towards her at breakneck pace. Amber narrowed her eyes in concentration as she timed her plan right. She may not be a fighter with great strength, but she certainly had some tactical talents that she used often to get out of a messy fight when necessary. This did not make her a coward though, Amber always thought that to herself. When the minotaur got close enough, she placed her hands on its forehead and promptly leapfrogged over it as it charged right past her then tried to stop itself. She landed at the same time the minotaur slammed into the wall behind her with a resounding and sickening crack. Turning, she smirked softly when she saw the minotaur’s horns were deeply embedded into the wall and it was having a hard time getting them out.  
‘Sorry, but I really can’t fight minotaurs,’ she shrugged while jogging off ‘Hope you find a way to free yourself after I leave this labyrinth.’ She ran faster when the minotaur roared loudly and screeched to a halt when she found that she was in another room of the labyrinth. She looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when she found two large metal double doors. She ran up and stopped when a child minotaur lumbered out of a corridor and stopped right in front of her. It let out a premature squeal and charged towards her.   
Amber took a deep breath as she charged at him too, adrenaline pumping through her veins as she briefly remembered the fight with May. She’d better not get humiliated by this little minotaur. She let out a battle cry to try and intimidate him but it didn’t work when it squealed loudly to intimidate her. She quickly grabbed the child minotaur by his growing horns, spun him around twice and swung him back down the corridor. There was a high pitched yelp as he crashed into one of the walls of the labyrinth and Amber sighed in relief as he admitted defeat rather quickly and scampered off.   
‘Now why couldn’t I have done that with May?’ she asked herself after a moment’s pause. She rushed up to the doors and tried pulling on the metal handles. They wouldn’t budge and they didn’t move either when she pushed on them.  
‘Grrrrr…’ Amber froze on instinct when she heard a low drawn out growl behind her. Something snorted down her neck, making her swallow nervously and she paled when she steadily looked up and saw the bull minotaur’s crest. Turning around slowly, she looked up into the bull minotaur’s dark eyes, her legs wobbling like jelly. He snarled angrily at her, making her yelp in surprise as he head-butted her on the forehead harshly. Amber recoiled, stunned, and whined, holding her head as it throbbed in pain and she saw stars. She half-glared at the minotaur, as if telling him that he’d better hope she hadn’t gotten any brain damage because of him. Was that a stern warning or was that the punishment for running away? Probably a warning, punishment would have had her gored into the doors and eaten for dinner. Amber leaned against the doors for support, holding her head and sighed.  
‘I need to get out of here to face the Queen,’ she said with her head hung ‘I have to find my father and get back home so I can look for my mother and my younger brother. Please, let me go. I know I don’t expect much from pleading but if you could perhaps at least show some sympathy…’ The bull minotaur snorted unimpressed with slight confusion and Amber sighed, shaking her head. ‘No, of course you wouldn’t understand,’ she muttered sullenly with a pout ‘You don’t understand what sympathy is at all because you’re feral. You’re also from a different family to me, raised differently. Family doesn’t matter to you as long as you’re the leader.’   
The bull minotaur snorted grumpily in agreement and gently nudged her with his forehead insistently. Amber leaned back as he continued nudging her, resisting the urge to nudge him back so he wouldn’t get the wrong idea. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and tried to think of an idea to get the bull minotaur away from her or at least lose interest in making her his mate. She pulled her white tank top over her belly with a soft blush when the bull minotaur began to nudge her there and froze in thought. She carefully stuck her hand down her top and pulled out a sliver of meat from the Croft’s Raven, wrapped in bandages. She had brought it along just in case she got hungry but if she could get the bull minotaur to accept then she might be able to have him help her get out of the labyrinth. She offered it to the bull minotaur who sniffed it curiously. He snorted happily and snapped the meat up from her hand. He nuzzled her affectionately and his horns sunk into two grooves above Amber’s head as he licked her cheek sloppily. Amber heard a clunk behind her and fell over backwards as the doors behind her swung open. She blinked and looked behind her shoulder to see a staircase ascending to the next floor.  
‘Grrmph,’ the bull minotaur grunted moodily as Amber got up and he head-butted her lower back gently. Amber stumbled forward in surprise and turned to him, rubbing the spot where he had head-butted her. She blushed lightly as she took the hint and shook her head quickly.  
‘No, I’m most certainly not doing that with a minotaur, I’m way too young to even think about that,’ she murmured to herself. There was an amused snort and Amber glanced at the bull minotaur warily, stepping away from him. ‘Are you a pervert?’  
‘Grr,’ the bull minotaur bucked his head and Amber blushed more furiously and gave him a stern glare.  
‘I suddenly feel so sorry for your previous mates and all the other female minotaurs in your herd,’ she sighed.  
‘Grrmph,’ the bull minotaur bucked his head again with another amused snort as the doors began to close between them. Amber smiled weakly and sighed.  
‘Well…thanks,’ she said as the doors swung close completely. She sighed as they locked themselves automatically and began running up the staircase.


	15. The Riddle Rooms

Amber lay down after she reached the top of her current staircase. She had long lost count on the number of floors she had ascended. Breathing loudly, she placed a hand over her heart and rested on herself on the ice cold floor. Her head was pounding, her heart was racing and sending blood pulsing through her whole body, her thighs were aching, her calves were aching and she had never felt more tired in her entire life. With a deep yawn, she lifted her head and looked around the room. There was a dark tunnel, a climbing wall and a well in the room. With a frown, Amber looked from one item to the next.  
‘What kind of room is this?’ she asked to herself and rolled over to her front to take another look around. She glanced down and frowned, dusting away the dust in front of her to reveal a message in golden letters. As soon as the message was seen clearly, a voice echoed in the room.  
‘Round like an apple and deep like a cup. But all the king’s horses and all the king’s men can’t pull me up. What am I?’ The voice sounded like it was a shy yet powerful female voice. Amber perked up when she heard it and frowned curiously.  
‘A riddle?’ she said and glanced at the message in front of her then slammed her forehead against it ‘Please, God, I know I don’t believe in you, worship you nor do I follow you but I need your help.’ Staring at the golden letters she sighed and rested her chin against her hands with a pout. ‘Round, deep and you can’t pull it up,’ she murmured while mentally highlighting the important parts of the riddles ‘Damn, I never was good at these kind of things…’   
She kicked her feet in the air and glanced around the room. She frowned as she stared at the tunnel. It was round, deep and no-one could pull it up. She glanced at the well, which was also round, deep and wasn’t easy to pull up. Shrugging, she stood up and walked over to the well and peered in curiously. She couldn’t see anything through the pitch black darkness, wait what was that glint? Amber leaned forward more and gasped as she accidentally fell down the well. She immediately spread her arms and legs out to try and get a grip on the walls so she could try and climb back out but to no avail. She was slipping on glass instead of stone, which confused her to no end until she landed on the bottom of the well rather harshly. She winced, rubbing her rump soothingly and looked up with a scowl. She looked ahead and raised an eyebrow as she realised she was in a candlelit glass tube. She began crawling carefully through the tube until she found a ladder. She winced as she used her sore hands and feet to climb up the ladder. She poked her head out of the exit inquisitively and dragged herself out. She slumped onto the floor drowsily, flexing her scarred fingers and toes out to get some feeling into them. Sitting up, she saw three bronze statues: a young man smoking a cigarette, an elderly man playing golf and a woman playing the piano. She looked at the wall behind them which said in gold letters…  
‘The longer you pull me,’ the voice sounded suddenly in the room, making Amber jump with a sharp yelp and look around with a scrutinized stare for the source of it ‘the shorter I get. What am I?’ Amber groaned and lay her head on the floor.  
‘I hate riddles,’ she whined.   
Groaning, she stared at the statues blankly, lost for words. She stared at the woman playing the piano blankly. She wasn’t pulling anything while playing and as far as Amber was concerned, pianos didn’t get shorter if they were pulled. Staring at the golf player with exhausted eyes, she frowned thoughtfully. She didn’t know much that about golf because golf wouldn’t be a good sport to play in the middle of a desert, too much sand. When she turned her gaze to the cigarette smoker and chewed on her lip. Well cigarettes grew shorter but did you actually pull them?   
Amber glanced back at the other statues and steadily got up to her feet to wander over to the golfer. She ran a hand down the bronze texture and withdrew her hand as something clicked and the hand that held the golf club went down. She yelped as the floor suddenly opened beneath her and she instantly grabbed onto the statue in fright. She stared down at the trapdoor and pulled herself up, clutching onto the statue for dear life when she saw the nasty looking spikes that awaited her through the trapdoor. Swallowing nervously, she carefully lowered herself next to the statue and stepped away carefully. She yelped as crashed into the smoker statue and turned around sharply as it clicked. The arm with the cigarette lowered itself and the statue slid to the side to reveal a doorway.   
Blinking, Amber walked through the doorway cautiously, following her way down the dimly lit corridor. The next room contained a timeline with two dates in gold numbers: 00012 and 65700. There was a ticking clock in the middle of the timeline which read the current date and time. Amber glanced at the message underneath the timeline.  
‘I never was, am always to be…’  
‘Will you stop doing that?!’ Amber shrieked to the ceiling as she jumped out of her skin at the sudden sound of the voice. She heard a light giggle.  
‘Just doing my part in this obstacle, Amber,’ it said and Amber stiffened up.  
‘Do you know me?’ she asked with a surprised and suspicious whisper. Another laugh answered her.  
‘I think you know me too,’ it said ‘I’m known to a lot of the world.’ Amber breathed in sharply and glared at the ceiling.  
‘You’re her, aren’t you?’ she snarled ‘The Queen?’ A sigh could be heard.  
‘Well, you solved that little riddle, moving onto the next one,’ she said and before Amber could protest she continued the riddle ‘Now, where was I? Oh yes. I never was, am always to be. No-one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, to live and breathe on this terrestrial ball. What am I?’ Amber sighed and sat down with a pout.  
‘I will have your head once I find you,’ she vowed and stared at the timeline.  
‘I’d like to see you try,’ came the drawled reply.  
‘I accept your challenge, Your Majesty,’ Amber narrowed her eyes at the message determinedly ‘Never was? Can’t be the past, surely. Am always to be? Must be the future, of course.’ Without really thinking twice, Amber got up and strode over, slamming her palm onto the date 65700. The wall jolted and Amber jumped back, suddenly regretting her decision. The wall turned to reveal a passageway behind it. Blinking Amber tilted her head to the side with a surprised look. The Queen laughed.  
‘I love your sudden boost of confidence when you’re pushed,’ she simpered as Amber made her way down the passageway. Amber snarled inwardly with gnashed teeth as she stormed through the corridor. She yelped as she found a large golden sphinx blocking her way out of the corridor. It looked down at her and smiled softly.  
‘Oh, what’s this?’ it purred and looked Amber up and down with its piercing eyes ‘A fresh face. This is a rare occasion. What’s your name, dear?’ Amber swallowed anxiously.  
‘A-Amber…’ Amber stuttered out. The sphinx’s ears pricked up in interest.  
‘So you’re Amber,’ it murmured with its head tilted to the side curiously ‘I see. Well, my name is Holly. So, Amber. Ready for the next riddle?’ Amber groaned and hung her head.  
‘If you must,’ she muttered sullenly ‘Don’t expect me to enjoy it.’ Holly laughed and cleared her throat.  
‘What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening?’ Amber gaped at her in disbelief.  
‘What?!’ she exclaimed ‘What kind of riddle is that?!’  
‘My favourite one,’ Holly sniffed ‘Very traditional amongst us sphinxes too. It’s so well known that it’s so easy.’  
‘I haven’t heard of it,’ Amber whined and folded her arms with a pout. Holly looked at her with wide eyes.  
‘Well, from what I have heard, I thought your village would know it,’ she frowned ‘You’re a desert dweller too, aren’t you?’ Amber stared up at her.  
‘Sphinxes live in the desert too?’ she said ‘But I’ve never seen one before, only pictures in books.’ Holly tilted her head to the side then smiled knowingly.  
‘We prefer deserts that are closer to the equator,’ she explained ‘I’ve also heard your village is quite secluded, yes?’  
‘Exactly how much do you know about me?’ Amber asked suspiciously while narrowing her eyes. Holly’s tail swished in the air as she stuck her head up.  
‘Answer my riddle, young one, and I’ll tell you,’ she said shortly. Amber sulked and sat down, holding her head.  
‘OK,’ she muttered thoughtfully ‘Four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening? Sounds like a lizard of some sort but their legs usually take weeks to grow back…’ She tapped her forehead while staring ahead. Holly tilted her head to the side and smiled.  
‘You think too hard,’ she said. Amber stared up at her and blinked.  
‘Is it some sort of lizard?’ she asked. Holly sighed and shook her head. Amber groaned in frustration and glared at the floor. ‘I hate riddles.’  
‘Au contraire, dear Amber, I quite like them,’ Holly simpered. Amber looked up at her and sighed, looking down at the floor.  
‘You said this was easy,’ she muttered sullenly.  
‘Well, you haven’t heard of it so it can’t be as easy as I thought it might have been for you,’ Holly raised an amused eyebrow. Amber groaned tiredly and leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Holly sighed and shook her head disapprovingly. ‘It’s a pity. The Queen was so looking forward to seeing you…’ Amber growled.  
‘Unfortunately two of the same tricks never work on me,’ she mumbled. Holly simpered and sighed.  
‘Well, I’m not really hungry so I won’t eat you if you get the riddle wrong, so I might as well drop a clue for you,’ she shrugged and licked her paw to start grooming her ears ‘What do morning, afternoon and evening have in common?’ Amber raised an eyebrow.  
‘Your clues are riddled too,’ she mumbled. Holly laughed boisterously as she narrowed her eyes at the ceiling. ‘Morning, afternoon and evening are parts of the actual day,’ she said out loud to herself ‘Periods of time. Time… Stages… Phases…’ She sat up suddenly with a gasp. ‘Some sort of cycle?’ Holly perked up in interest, ears pricked and tilted her head to the side expectantly. Amber frowned. ‘But what kind of creature loses and gains legs during its life?’ Holly slouched in disappointment and sighed.  
‘Oh my, looks like we’re going to be here for a while,’ she said. Amber gaped openly at how the way she slouched. No matter what this beautiful creature did, she did not lose any elegance whatsoever. Amber shook her head out of her thoughts and placed her head in her hands.   
‘Well…well…uh…er…um…’ Amber lay down with her arms and legs splayed as she glared at the ceiling moodily. ‘Four, two, three,’ she murmured ‘I guess when I was a baby my hands counted as legs for the first three months of my life.’ When Holly’s ears pricked up suddenly, Amber knew she was going in the right direction. Sitting up, she stared at Holly with an uncertain frown. ‘Is it the human life cycle?’ When Holly purred loudly and nodded, Amber gaped. ‘But we don’t have three legs in the elderly stage…’ Holly simpered.  
‘You’re not a human,’ she said ‘Those in the Enhanced category don’t need to use a walking cane to aid them in walking.’ Amber blinked and realisation struck her.   
‘Oh! Oh yeah, old regular humans do need walking sticks!’ she said and smacked her hand on her forehead ‘That’s where the third leg comes from! Right, I see now!’ Holly giggled cheekily and her body enveloped itself in a golden light. Amber closed her sensitive eyes to protect them from being damaged and opened them carefully when the light calmed down. A young woman in a gold linen dress stood where the sphinx was sitting down and stepped to the side.  
‘You may pass, little Amber,’ she smiled as Amber walked past her. Amber glared at her.  
‘I’m roughly the same size as you!’ she said. Holly laughed and ruffled her hair good-humouredly.  
‘When I’m a sphinx, you’re a little girl in my eyes,’ she said, her golden eyes glinting playfully. Amber groaned and rolled her eyes.  
‘Well, I’ll see you soon,’ she nodded and jogged off.  
‘Be careful, Amber.’ Amber paused and looked at Holly as she tucked a strand of her ebony hair behind her ear shyly. ‘The Queen can do a lot in her power alone but she has two henchmen who are much stronger than her. They know everything about a lot of individuals on Ethylias. They talk regularly about you.’ Amber felt her blood run cold at the mention of someone powerful talking about her.  
‘Who are they?’ she asked.  
‘Two elements which would strike horror in people’s hearts and they would never be able to dream, only suffer nightmares,’ Holly winced as she said her line ‘They know where to look for what they want on Ethylias. They know nothing about mercy nor do they know virtue.’  
‘They’re demons aren’t they?’ Amber felt fear crawl up her spine ‘If you don’t know virtue, you must be a demon.’  
‘Exactly,’ Holly nodded ‘You’ve come across them before?’ Amber paled.  
‘I was once tempted by one,’ she murmured and shuddered violently as the memories flashed past her ‘It wasn’t a pleasant experience for a ten year old so I forgot all about it up until now.’ Shaking her head she turned back to Holly. ‘What are they called?’  
‘I’ve already said their names,’ Holly held a grave face ‘I will not say them again.’ Amber stared at her and nodded.  
‘Thank you,’ she said and ran down the corridor to go to the next room. She came to a maroon coloured room with a chandelier to light it. A large painting was hung on the wall before her. It showed fields, mountains, villages and a young boy with his pet horse. Amber approached it in awe, running her fingers along the golden frame.  
‘Once upon a time a cowboy rode into a village with his horse on Teneday,’ the Queen’s voice sounded in the room ‘He stayed for three days then left on Daeday. How is this possible?’ With a confused frown Amber closed her eyes and counted the days from Teneday to Daeday. Opening her eyes and gaped.  
‘Uh…he arrived at midnight on Teneday night and left at midnight on Augenday night which technically would be Daeday…’ Amber bit her lip nervously and the Queen tutted.  
‘Wrong.’ Amber sighed in frustration and stared at the painting. Folding her arms she closed her eyes then opened them suddenly.  
‘I once had a friend called Magday,’ she remembered with a snap of her fingers ‘Could it be possible that the horse was called Daeday?’ The Queen giggled and Amber gently ran her tiny fingers along the horse’s image in the painting. Its outline flashed brightly and the painting slid to the side to reveal a staircase. Amber jogged up them to reach a room with a long golden vertical line attached to the far wall.  
‘What is the straightest line in the world but bent? It’s always in front of you yet always behind you.’ Amber gaped at the riddle and bowed her head, gently massaging her temples.  
‘Come on, brain,’ she muttered darkly ‘I know you’re not happy with me doing all those head-butts in father’s training classes but if I can get through this, I promise to never do a head-but again.’ She sighed and stared at the line. ‘Always in front of me?’ Closing her eyes, Amber mentally imagined that she was outside, back in her little village in the vast desert. ‘She said it’s always behind me too…’ Focusing harder she narrowed her eyes. ‘So it’s like a circle around me but it’s the straightest line in the world, apparently.’ Sighing and shaking her head with a frown, Amber’s brain failed to comply with her attempt at logical thinking. Amber opened her eyes and looked around for any lines. She stared out of the window and watched the battle against the fighters and clay dolls. Her gaze slowly drifted to the mountains and she huffed. ‘I don’t see any…’ Her eyes suddenly widened. ‘Wait, the horizon!’ She ran up to the line on the wall and spun it into a horizontal position. The line clicked into place and the wall moved to the side, allowing her access to the next room.  
‘You’re getting better at this,’ the Queen’s voice echoed through the darkness as Amber was faced with three tunnels ‘What always runs but never walks, often murmurs but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps and has a mouth but never eats?’  
‘I would say vampires for my answer but they walk and talk,’ Amber murmured and folded her arms while studying the tunnels. The one on the left hand side had smoke coming out of it, the centre had water running down it and the one on the right hand side had flowers growing out of it. With a thoughtful hum, Amber tapped her chin attentively. ‘Runs but never walks? I don’t think this would be a creature then. Unless you could say a sprinter but they talk and I hope they do eat and sleep.’ Amber closed her eyes and shook her head. ‘No, the answer needs to be related to one of these three tunnels.’ Looking at them closely, she bit her lip anxiously. ‘Well…water runs, doesn’t it?’ With a deep breath, she dived through the centre tunnels and screamed as she plummeted down with the water. ‘I hate heights!’ she cried and didn’t bother snarling as she heard the Queen laugh above her. She landed on a soft patch of soil with a light thud. With a groan, she lifted her dirt-caked face and stared at the three fruits before her. Sitting up, she wiped her face clean as the Queen recited her next riddle.  
‘Once upon a time, there was a green house,’ she started with a giggle ‘Inside the green house there was a white house. Inside the white house there was a red house. Inside the red house there were lots and lots of babies. What is it?’ Amber tilted her head to the side with a frown. In front of her was a watermelon, a green apple and a lime. Tapping her head thoughtfully, she frowned.  
‘I’m having a problem linking the riddle to these,’ she murmured helplessly and looked at each one with a confused frown ‘I guess the green house links in with them somehow. And inside an apple there’s white. But the watermelon sort of has a white layer too and it’s red underneath but what on earth are the babies?’   
With a tired and lethargic groan, Amber pinched her nose, bowed her head down in thought and sagged her shoulders. Nibbling on her lip, she stared at the watermelon and raised a hand to chop it in half. It was a very messy karate chop, though it could possibly be better than Sarah’s, which only cracked the watermelon a little way. Amber rubbed her hand tenderly before prying the watermelon apart and looking inside. Her brain clicked to attention as she saw hundreds of tiny black seeds inside the red flesh.   
‘Oh, those are the babies, I see,’ she said then began eating some of the watermelon when her stomach grumbled for food. She hummed in approval, it was a good watermelon compared to the amount of good food Amber could salvage from anything. The soil before her parted as soon as she took a bite to reveal a small hole, leading to the next room. She finished her bite and jumped down to see three boxes before her: a cardboard box, a glass tank and a coffin.  
‘The maker doesn’t want it,’ the Queen recited the riddle that was written on the wall ‘The buyer doesn’t use it. The user doesn’t see it.’ Amber tilted her head with a puzzled frown and looked from one item to the next.   
‘Well…I suppose some makers wouldn’t want anything they made,’ she muttered to herself with a curious look ‘The cardboard box is quite useful though, it can be used by anyone for anything. And the buyer would use it to store things in.’ She stared at the glass tank. ‘I guess the buyer would use it to, I don’t know, keep snakes in perhaps?’ She briefly remembered Xeann’s description of her pet snakes. ‘Yup, Xeann would use it and I think the snakes would see it.’ She glanced at the coffin and tilted her head curiously. ‘Uh…what were coffins used for again? I keep on forgetting…’ She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, biting her lip. ‘My father keeps on saying something about them during our training missions.’ Stretching and closing her eyes she hummed thoughtfully then gasped in realisation. ‘Oh yeah, you use them to store dead people in them! Yeah, the buyer doesn’t really use it and the user can’t see it!’   
She hummed merrily as she skipped over to the coffin and opened it. It was empty so she leaned in for a closer inspection, seeing if there was something else about the coffin and accidentally fell in, trapping herself inside as the door swung close. Her stomach jolted as the coffin was lifted up and into the next room. The door of the coffin swung open as it was suddenly propped up to a vertical position and Amber tumbled out, smacking her face into the stone floor that awaited her. With a groan and a nosebleed, she groggily sat up and stared at the five dark tunnels before her. They each had a unique symbol above them: an owl, a cat, a feather, a key and a question mark.  
‘This is my favourite,’ the Queen giggled as Amber wiped her nose tenderly and stared at the riddle on the floor ‘Why is a raven like a writing desk?’   
‘What on Ethylias is a writing desk?’ Amber asked in confusion with an extremely bamboozled, befuddled and baffled look. Lying back with a sigh, she pinched her nose to stop the bleeding. Why is a raven like a writing desk? Amber had heard that riddle somewhere before but she couldn’t remember the exact details. She hummed, drumming her worn out toes on the cold stone floor beneath her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, yawning as she remembered exactly how tired she was. She began humming a little lullaby that her mother used to sing to her when she was very young every night and licked away the blood that trickled down over her lips and chin. With a defeated and knackered sigh, she opened her eyes slowly and glared at the dark ceiling. ‘Please, can’t you just tell me which tunnel to go down so I can fight you?’ she asked ‘Or at least tell me what a writing desk is because I have no idea what it is.’ The Queen’s laugh was very shy and sounded very girly.  
‘I want my opponents to be smart, fun, challenging and interesting,’ she said ‘That’s the reason for all these obstacles.’  
‘I’ve done the last few on my own,’ Amber whined.  
‘Well, you can do this one on your own, can’t you?’ The Queen didn’t sound very impressed with Amber’s attitude to her riddles. ‘You know, not all riddles have a definite answer.’ Amber grumbled and looked up at the symbols.  
‘It’s these kinds of riddles that I hate the most,’ she mumbled sulkily, staring at the symbols idly. Her eyes slowly drifted over to the question mark and she frowned curiously when she failed to recognize it. ‘What kind of symbol is that?’ she asked to herself and stood up, dusting her hands down on her shorts. She had seen it at the end of every riddle that had been written in gold in the past few rooms. Perhaps that was the way to the Queen and her subjects. Amber got up, wiped her nose then purposely strode down the tunnel with the question mark over it. She soon began jogging after a few minutes of walking then running as adrenaline pumped through her body.  
She groaned when she saw the staircase at the end of the corridor and began to ascend it. She stopped at the top, panting for breath and looking at the next room she was in. A low growl caught her attention and Amber felt like collapsing in exhaustion when she saw a sabre tooth tiger come out of the shadows.


	16. Limits

‘What’s the big idea, Your Majesty?’ Amber asked dryly as she and the sabre tooth tiger began to circle one another guardedly ‘I thought I would be able to find you straight away after finishing your stupid riddles.’ A light laugh echoed in the candlelit room as her response. Amber growled at it. She was starting to hate that laugh so much.  
‘Well, I do like pushing my potential opponents to see if they’re worth fighting against or not,’ the Queen explained smugly ‘Why do you think I’ve gone to the extreme lengths of keeping trolls, Titanoboas, minotaurs and the like in my tower? I always love an interesting opponent and battle.’ Amber gritted her teeth irritably and snarled softly, preventing herself from swearing, enticing another light girly giggle from the Queen. ‘Now you two have fun, I’ll be waiting for you after you cross the floor above you. Don’t hurt each other too much, I love you both.’  
‘Hey, now just wait a minute!’ Amber quickly glanced at the staircase behind her but saw that it was gone. She saw the doors behind the sabre tooth tiger to see them obstructed by black prison bars. Swallowing nervously, Amber hunched her shoulders and growled at the great prehistoric cat in front of her, baring her yellow teeth. It snarled back at her angrily and lunged towards her with a roar. Amber paled visibly, immediately regretting the decision to intimidate the large cat, and jumped aside then began running around the dimly lit large circular room. The tiger began chasing her immediately, hot on her heels. Amber began to tire even more than before, her vision was starting to blacken and her muscles were screaming for rest. She eventually was pounced on again from behind and landed on her back. She gazed up at the sabre tooth tiger tiredly and grimaced when it growled menacingly at her, sniffing her warily. Amber yawned deeply and slowly closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep before she could feel any pain of getting ripped apart and eaten. If there was any kind of death that Amber wanted, it was a peaceful and painless one.  
Suddenly, she felt light, like a delicate feather. Amber felt as if she was floating comfortably in still air. She sighed dreamily as she bobbed up and down in the air, feeling nothing but relaxed and calm feelings. She felt wisps of cool air coil around her naked body just when she thought that she had died and she was going up to Heaven. She couldn’t open her eyes to see what was happening but she could imagine white balls of light circling her, pulling at her small body and hair. With a soft smile, Amber relaxed fully as if she didn’t want this peaceful dream to ever end. Her hands gripped firmly onto two handles and Amber suddenly woke up with a gasp, as if she’d been drowning and she had just surfaced from the water. The sabre tooth tiger was a few feet away from her, pawing at its eyes while its short tail flicked from one side to the other in agitation. Amber felt renewed and reenergised as she easily stood up and looked down at her body. Her eyes widened in excitement as she saw that she was clad in just a chain mail shirt, which exposed her belly, a chain mail skirt and silver plated mini boots. Her vision was obstructed by glass but when Amber narrowed her eyes, she saw that it improved her enhanced vision. She also saw that she now held a silver rapier and a large round white shield. She saw on the reflection of her shield that the glass obstructing her vision was a visor and her blue hair highlights had turned white against her silver hair.  
‘Yes!’ she cheered happily after a few minutes of taking in her altered appearance ‘I’ve finally got my limit! I’ve finally got my limit!’ She grinned then gripped her rapier while glancing at the sabre tooth tiger with a confident grin. The sabre tooth tiger recovered from its temporary blindness and snarled at her.  
Every creature on Ethylias has a power to use as a last resort to survive. It activates itself spontaneously when the creature is drained from its energy and may send the creature into a coma after saving it. As scientific studies have proven countless of times, the creature isn’t always saved from danger. The interesting thing is that everyone, even Abnormal creatures, has an individual power. Even identical twins differ from one another from this power. The power allows a physical change to the body such as difference in height and weight, hair or eye colour or even, rarely, a gender change. It was so interesting to Amber that she often wondered what someone’s limit was whenever she met someone new.  
The power gives a continuous rush of adrenaline through the body so any actions would respond quicker and the body would feel less pain if it got injured at all. The power can link into the brain to provide inspiration and quicker thinking for logical problems if there were any during the battle. It is also possible for the power to change the creature’s personality. Elemental powers, if the creature had any, would be enhanced for the creature significantly too. If the creature didn’t have any elemental powers, there is a chance that the power would provide some temporary ones. The body attains armour for extra strong protection and the power provides a massive improvement to any weapons that the creature may have on them when the power is activated. Or, in Amber’s case, the power can create new weapons for the creature to use for their final defence in the battle. Amber had tried tiring herself out numerous times before nightfall when she was younger, much to her mother’s worry and distress, just to see what her limit form looked like. Different creatures with different powers have different times to when the power is activated. Every individual limit power also differed in strength and duration which sometimes helps different people sort out which kind of job they want when they’re at adolescent stage and thinking about their future career and life. Amber had once seen a person cut themselves while reading by accident and that alone activated their limit power. But it didn’t last that long and it wasn’t anything too interesting really.   
Amber lunged forward with a snarl and slashed her rapier at the sabre tooth tiger. The tiger roared as the blade pierced its skin and threw its paw at her, hitting her directly in the face. Amber recoiled almost immediately with a surprised yelp, withdrawing her blade and stumbled back shakily, holding her cheek. She felt blood on her cheek and hissed while glaring the sabre tooth tiger down. It had been a good long while since someone had drawn blood on her, if you discounted the Queen’s guards that visited her village constantly. It growled viciously at her, getting ready to pounce on her again. Amber growled back challengingly and they both lunged for each other in a violent manner. Amber roughly shoved her shield into the tiger’s face and quickly thrust her blade towards the tiger’s eye in an attempt to either temporarily blind it or permanently, Amber didn’t really mind too much as long as it couldn’t see. It quickly lifted up a large paw in defence and roared in anger and pain as the rapier pierced through its leg and came out the other side. Amber pulled the bloodied blade back and jumped away to shake off the blood.   
The tiger gently licked its small wound before snarling at Amber and they began circling one another. Amber snarled back and readied her grip on her rapier before lunging forward and roughly shoving her shield into the tiger’s side. They rolled over and Amber lost her grip on her rapier in the brawl, sending it flying across the room. With a brief alarmed look, Amber began to tussle with the tiger, avoiding getting her eyes clawed out when large paws with sharp claws tried to rip her young face off. She kicked, thrashed and even took on her animalistic side to bite down harshly on the tiger’s neck. It roared loudly in anger more than pain, as if her attempt at mimicking its moves was offensive, and swiftly swung a heavy paw into her hip, sending her flying across the room. Amber grunted painfully as she landed heavily on her other hip, her back crashing into the wall. Looking up, she saw her rapier on the other side of the sabre tooth tiger, groaning when she realised that the tiger was still up for more fighting.  
The sabre tooth tiger shook its massive body out, showing off its sleek healthy fur coat off and growled warningly at Amber when she sloppily staggered onto her feet. Leaning against the wall resignedly and breathing raggedly, Amber began to worry to how long her limit would be able to last. There were no clear signs of her about to lose her limit at the moment, but limits were very unpredictable and spontaneous, particularly when it’s the first time that it’s been activated for the creature. There have been many scientific stories that Amber had heard about of even newborns being able to activate their limit power just a few hours after birth and people not being able to activate their limit power until they were well into their elderly years. Speaking of which, Amber glanced at the tiger warily, this sabre tooth tiger might unleash its limit sometime soon and then things would go seriously messy if it does, especially if its limit power was stronger than hers.  
Amber gasped in surprise as the tiger abruptly lunged for her and she began running around the room, bending down to grab her rapier when she passed it. With a relieved sigh, she spun on her heel abruptly to face the tiger, stumbling slightly in her boots. They had a slight heel attached to them and Amber was never good at adjusting to wearing heeled boots. She always fought barefoot because it was more comfortable, despite the times when she ever stubbed her toe or got something sharp stuck in the sole of her foot. Once she got her balance right, she swung her rapier to cut at the tiger’s face. It roared in surprise and jumped back immediately startled, shaking its head quickly to shake off the brief confusion she had inflicted on it. Amber lunged forward again and struck its chest, drawing blood. The tiger snarled ferociously and backed off warily with an angry growl. Amber twirled her rapier skilfully and eyed it, waiting for its next move.  
The tiger tenderly licked its new wound before roaring and shoving Amber into a wall violently, sinking one of its large sharp sabre teeth deep into her shoulder as it did so. Amber bit her lip hard to prevent a cry in pain when it came out from the other side and stared at her shoulder worriedly. Blood crept out from underneath the tooth and Amber began taking deep breaths as the adrenaline worked rapidly through her body to block the pain. Tears leaked through her eyes as she whimpered when some pain came through. With a determined shout, she swung her left arm, the one with the shield, into the tiger’s head. The tiger yelped at the sudden assault, its head moving away sharply. Amber cried out as the tooth dug deeper into her shoulder before being ripped out abruptly. She clasped the wound tightly and steadied her blade arm to point towards the tiger warily. It snarled at her warily, its injured paw up in the air. Amber stared into its blue eyes long and hard before sighing.  
‘It’s the most dangerous creatures like you that I love the most,’ she confessed with a guilty looking shrug and a nervous smile ‘I don’t want to kill you but if I have to do that to get to the Queen…’ She gripped her rapier tightly and shook her head. ‘The sad thing is, I’ve never killed anything before,’ she muttered darkly ‘I’m supposed to be an assassin but I’ve never had the chance to kill anything before. It’s pretty pathetic.’ The tiger growled warily and Amber gave it a sharp glare. ‘To be fair, you’re trying to kill me too so the damage I’ve inflicted on you so far is considered self-defence.’ Another cautious growl made her scoff assertively and turn towards the exit. ‘It’s alright, I can just somehow find my way through the exit. I have my limit power activated and I might as well use it while I still can.’  
She purposely strode towards the bars that blocked her from the exit and gingerly placed her shield hand on the bars in case they were booby trapped. Nothing happened to her so she gently shook each and every bar to see if any of them were loose enough to dislodge so she could get through. When nothing happened again and she didn’t find any loose bars, she sighed and resumed to holding her shoulder wound, staring at the exit with narrowed amber eyes, as if she was asking them to gain heat vision so she could melt her way through and kill the Queen. The tiger growled questioningly and limped over to her side, staring at her curiously. Amber gave it a glance, not feeling the intimidation of it being the same height as her, and sighed, shrugging her good shoulder while sitting down in front of the exit cross-legged. The tiger got up on its hind legs and reached his good paw up to a panel above it. It scanned its paw print and bleeped loudly when it was finished. Amber stepped back warily as the bars rose up and the doors swung open. Glancing at the tiger as it got back down to all fours, she smiled.  
‘Thank you very much,’ she nodded to it as she stood up wearily and took a shaky step forward to go through the doors ‘I…really appreciate it.’ Fatigue and immense pain suddenly hit her hard and Amber knew her limit time was up when the chain mail disappeared off her body and she felt the cloth of Sarah’s borrowed tank top and shorts. She fell forward with a defeated sigh and landed on a large warm furry body. She clenched the fur instinctively and nuzzled into the warmth with a sigh. Looking up, she saw the tiger as it steadily adjusted her onto its body and growled softly at her in a friendly manner. Gripping onto its fur with her good hand, Amber carefully linked her legs securely around its abdomen and let it take her up the stairs that awaited them. She gently nuzzled it encouragingly, remembering that it had a limp now. It purred quietly as it carried her silently to the next room.


	17. The Fall

Amber opened her eyes groggily with a groan when she was pushed out onto a soft plush comfortable surface. She immediately sunk into it and sighed in content, finally feeling some comfort in her life. It was so soft, so warm, much better than the straw beds the minotaurs had. Amber felt like she could just fall asleep at any moment now… She gasped in surprised pain as a large rough tongue licked her shoulder wound. She whimpered and felt dizzy from the sudden loss of blood. The sabre tooth tiger growled and pulled out a small box from underneath where she was lying on. It nudged it over and picked up a small white ball. When it was pushed into Amber’s hand, she could feel that it was a roll of clean bandages. She managed to find one end of a bandage then let the roll fall from her grip and roll away to unravel a bandage. The tiger took the end from her hand and Amber painfully lifted her arm to let it sling the bandage around her wound clumsily. Amber groaned as she tightened the bandage groggily, her eyesight not as good as it should be. When a cool human hand rested itself on her forehead, she felt too weak to protest. All she did was let out a pained moan.  
‘Mother?’ she murmured ‘Is that you?’ She didn’t hear a response as cool slender hands began to adjust her bandage carefully and clean up any blood that had spilled out of the wound. Amber sighed as her eyelids fell heavy and she yawned loudly. She tensed up briefly when she felt the familiar sting of healing magic going into her wound. She tried to pry her eyes open and take a look at her healer but even if she did manage to keep them open, her eyesight was all blurry and tears were clogging them up. She then gasped in pain when she felt it abruptly stop and excruciatingly close the wound, ensuring a scar would always remain on her shoulder. Amber whimpered in pain as she relaxed back into the sofa, raising her left hand shakily to try and feel the wound. It dropped and she found herself wanting sleep more than ever. She had climbed up countless of levels, tried to outrun a feral bull minotaur, tired her brain out with the riddles that came after the labyrinth and fought a sabre tooth tiger while using the her limit and the last of her strength. She couldn’t bear to go any further now.  
But she had to find her father, no matter what the cost. She can’t give up now, what would Xeann say if she saw her now? Amber tried to get up but her body told her to stay still and relax. Her mind persisted and told her that she must get up now and she must find her father and afterwards her mother and Jasper. She jolted her body slightly but those warm hands pressed her down into the soft plush surface.  
‘Rest now,’ a familiar voice that Amber failed to recognize softly instructed ‘Battles scars rather suit you, despite the fact that they heal too quickly. You’ve been through a lot, I’m very impressed with you, Amber. Oh how I could really use someone like you in the future…’  
‘Mother?’ Amber breathed weakly but she was hushed soothingly. A giggle was heard as Amber heard high heels click on a marble surface. She then felt a cool hand brush itself against her cheek. On instinct to search for comfort, she nuzzled into it warmly and heard a light giggle.  
‘You’re so persistent and strong,’ the voice praised ‘I’m sure your mother would be very proud of you.’ Amber stirred as the hand began caressing her hair gently. ‘Your father would be proud too, if he was around to watch you.’ Amber frowned at the mention of her parents and tried to move away from the hand but felt too weak. ‘Your little brother would be happy too, I’m sure.’ Amber didn’t like the fact that this person seemed to know too much about her and her family. Who was this person? She tried to wake herself up more but soon dropped off to sleep when she felt cool lips kiss her forehead, like a mother would kiss her child to sleep. ‘Sleep well…’

*

Amber woke up with a gasp when she heard a particularly loud bang from outside and light blinded her vision temporarily. Her vision came back to her almost instantly after the flash and she looked around her surroundings. The sabre tooth tiger lay down beside her on a dark green carpet. Amber then discovered that she had been resting on a plush pea green sofa with several cushions and pillows cushioning her. She looked up and saw a large window which showed Magia Town on the outskirts of the wasteland and saw the battle was still going on below in the wasteland between the fighters and the clay dolls. Dark ominous thunderclouds, that flashed with energy every so now and then, were visible in the illusion sky which indicated that the bang had been a clap of thunder. Cody was probably still fighting down there with Saphira then. Amber briefly wondered how well Saphira was doing. She glanced back at what was behind the sofa and saw a roaring warm fire in a marble fireplace behind her. Above it was a painted portrait of a young woman with pale skin, bright magenta eyes and forest green hair tied up in a high ponytail. She posed with a solemn face, her thin lips set in a tight line. Amber recognized, from Xeann’s description a couple of weeks ago, her as the young-looking Queen. The reason why she was here in the first place.  
Amber turned to the end table by the sofa and frowned curiously when she saw a framed photo. She reached out and winced when a dull ache went into her right arm as she remembered where she had injured her shoulder a while ago. She glanced at her bandaged shoulder and carefully pressed down on it. She felt that the wound had closed up and carefully tugged the bandage off. She hissed softly and gently rubbed the large nasty scar that was embedded in her shoulder. It was rare for someone to have a scar in the Enhanced category unless a healing spell went wrong. Amber grimaced as she pulled her hand away with a confused frown.  
‘How did that happen?’ she asked to herself and reached over for the photo with her left hand.  
Studying the photo carefully, Amber blinked in surprise when she immediately recognized the Queen in the centre of it. Surrounding her were six other people. A tall man with yellow-brown eyes and green hair like the Queen’s stood behind her right hand side, staring at the camera unfeelingly. A beautiful woman with long blue hair and gold eyes stood next to him, a warm smile on her features. Directly next to the Queen on the right side stood a slightly taller girl who looked around about eighteen years of age. But even with her beautiful light blue hair, her twinkling sea green eyes and her charming smile, she looked very intimidating. On the left hand side stood a shorter girl around Amber’s age. She had shoulder length silver hair and golden eyes which displayed her hidden and seemingly endless energy. She had a warm smile on her features as she had her hands on a younger girl in front of her, roughly twelve years of age. The young child had curly silver hair and bright smiling yellow-brown eyes. She displayed a rather eager smile on her face. The Queen had her hands on a younger boy’s shoulders. He had spiky jade green hair and timid dark blue eyes. He looked very shy and bashful and looked like he was about to hide his face into the Queen’s chest. The Queen looked genuinely happy, a pleasant smile spread across her beautiful young features.  
Amber looked from the photo then to the portrait behind her. She wondered what the Queen was like before she rose to power. The portrait displayed her seriousness, as if she was being forced into having her portrait being traditionally done by a painter. In the photo, it showed her happiness, as if she was the one who suggested a family photo. At least, it looked like a nice family photo from Amber’s analysing deduction. Placing down the photo when she heard voices, Amber looked up at the ceiling with a curious look. She shakily got up to her feet and stumbled when she remembered how weak she was from climbing up the tower and going through all the obstacle courses. The sabre tooth tiger sat up then padded over to her, fully healed by the look of it, and offered her a ride. Amber collapsed on top of it, clinging onto its fur, and it padded off to the staircase, ascending up to the next floor. Amber clung onto the tiger’s fur coat tightly, looking up as the voices got louder as they neared.  
‘I’m really worried about this,’ an unfamiliar voice said ‘You can’t possibly be still thinking about that theory now, surely.’ Amber and the sabre tooth tiger reached two large decorated wooden double doors. Amber peered through the gap in between them carefully and saw the girl with short silver hair and golden eyes from the photo on the other side of the doors. She held a face of concern and her fingers were laced together nervously.  
‘Lavender,’ Amber recognized the Queen’s voice almost instantly ‘Think what this could mean for all of us if we looked into this anomaly further. Those legends and myths we read about that connection, we can prove that it exists in this world. We could find out a ground-breaking discovery! Isn’t that interesting, or perhaps exciting to you? And you wouldn’t be hassled about so much if they focus their attention solely on the bond that connects us.’  
‘You’re taking a huge risk here, sister,’ Lavender countered her, lacing her hands together worriedly ‘Supposing the first thing she thinks about is fighting you when she wakes up? You’re in no state to fight at the moment…’  
‘Then fight we shall and it shall be ever so glorious. I’ve been dying for an opponent like her, little sister. It’s been months since I last had a thrilling fight. Of course you wouldn’t understand the thrill of a fight, Lavender. You’re too much of a pacifist to get involved in a fight.’ Amber’s eyes widened at her words. The Queen had been wanting for someone like her to fight against? But why? Battles were ugly business and Amber did everything she could to avoid them. Lavender sighed in exasperation.  
‘Sister, I don’t like this at all!’ she shouted, clenching her fists tightly ‘You can’t fight, you know very well that you can’t!’  
‘Oh if it doesn’t survive through the fight then it’s not worthy enough to be a child of mine,’ the Queen scoffed and Amber could hear high heels clicking against a marble floor when she spoke.  
‘How on Ethylias can you think like that?!’ Lavender shouted in shock ‘You’re sixteen years old now! You should know better!’ Amber lifted her head at that exclamation with wide eyes. So the Queen was just sixteen years of age after all? But how can that be true? Surely a teenage sorceress couldn’t possibly be able to hold this much power within her… Amber gripped the sabre tooth tiger’s thick warm fur fearfully when she suddenly remembered. The Queen had two demons for her allies. It wasn’t uncommon for any teenager to give into a demon’s offer for a Faustian contract. They must have made all of this possible.  
‘Lavender, I don’t like this,’ the Queen’s heels clicked against the marble floor more when she spoke ‘You don’t know what it’s like to have a blood thirst like me. You’ve seen how she managed to convince a bull minotaur to let her live as his mate and the way she persevered through the whole tower! I want to fight her, I just know she’ll be a perfect addition to the court! I’m sure you’ll be agreeing with me after she’s been with us for about a month.’  
‘You’ve met with her father to recruit him and he certainly didn’t want to join the court.’ Amber held her breath when Lavender mentioned her father. Had they tried recruiting him too? ‘What makes you think that she would want to join the court?’ Silence fell over them until another loud clap of thunder sounded outside, lightning flashing through the room. ‘Look, Cody’s getting exhausted out there. I don’t know what you see in that mutt but he can’t hold the rest of the fighters off for very long.’  
‘Cody has endless of energy and they’ve been malnourished and weakened for over four months. I think he can keep them at bay.’  
‘Yes, but only long enough for us to evacuate, Your Majesty.’ The term, ‘Your Majesty’ was spoken with heavy sarcasm ‘Really now, you have too much faith in him. Just accept the fact that he’s not as strong as you think. He is only a teenage werewolf.’   
‘We’re only teenage sorceresses and look at us now,’ the Queen snidely remarked.  
‘We had a proper education and actually succeeded in some classes,’ Lavender folded her arms with a disapproving look.  
‘Cody went to a school that was as good…’  
‘But he wasn’t intelligent enough to remember the simplest of facts. Just admit it, sister. We’re going to have to leave soon and you know it.’ The Queen sighed and there was a pause of silence. Amber held her breath when she heard a sigh.  
‘Alright, Lavender,’ the Queen said in defeat ‘You win. Go and tell the others that we’re moving to the Southern Tower.’ Lavender nodded stiffly and walked off, her own lilac high heels clicking against the marble floor. Amber held her breath when she disappeared through the door on the other side of the largely decorated room. She gently pushed the heavy wooden door open and the sabre tooth tiger padded in softly when it was wide enough to fit through. Amber didn’t pay attention to the room, her eyes were only fixated on the figure that was going up the large staircase in front of her. She jumped off the sabre tooth tiger and used all her strength to run towards the Queen.  
‘Hey you!’ she called and coughed roughly afterwards when her legs protested and she stopped to stand still ‘Wait!’ The Queen paused on the staircase and looked at her over her shoulder. Amber took in a sharp breath as she saw those glowing magenta eyes for the first time which bore into her skull. The Queen took in a sharp breath too when she saw those blazing amber eyes. With a devious smile, she turned round fully, revealing her whole figure. Amber’s eyes widened and a silent gasp escaped her when she saw the large round belly pushing out the dark fabric of her dress that had been concealed from her. Amber gaped at her and looked at the Queen, speechless, stunned and shocked. Why was the Queen pregnant? When did she get pregnant? How was she pregnant? Who was the father? Why did she want to fight with Amber when she clearly was unable to? A light giggle escaped the Queen when she saw Amber’s shocked expression. The Queen opened her mouth to say something, but the tower suddenly shook. Amber fell over immediately as the Queen stood on the stairs, unfazed. She gasped as a large piece of the ceiling fell and landed inches away from her.  
‘Florence, hurry up! We have to leave now before we get caught up in the deconstruction!’ Amber looked up sharply at the unfamiliar voice and saw a young pale-skinned man with shoulder length dark azure hair and twinkling blue eyes run down the stairs and grab the Queen’s hand. He spotted her and Amber’s skin erupted in goosebumps immediately when she recognized the stare of a demon. Staring into the demon’s eyes would give you just a glimpse of their demonic personality. Amber felt the dread of nightmares run down her spine through his stare and swallowed harshly when his lips parted to reveal a wide, bloodcurdling toothy grin. She also remembered the time when she was nearly tempted by a demon. Amber had never looked at a demon in the same light ever. Amber yelped as the floor beneath her cracked and she screamed as she began plummeting down the tower with the sabre tooth tiger, hearing a loud manic cackle, which could only belong to a madman, before plunging into the darkness below her.

***

Saphira was in her feral form and on Cody’s shoulders when pieces of the tower began to fall from the sky. She glanced up to see that it was crumbling down rapidly, pieces of large stone and marble falling and landing around the fighters, flattening clay dolls in the process. Cody took the opportunity to throw her off his shoulders and run away from the battlefield at the speed of lightning. Saphira landed in her human form with a yelp and watched him go. A snarl left her mouth.  
‘Cody, you idiot!’ she yelled at him in fury, her eyes blazing in anger ‘You stupid coward! Get back here or I’ll kill you!’ When Cody didn’t respond, she began running after him but her leg got squashed by one of the large stone pieces that were falling around her. She gasped in pain and tried to pull away from the large piece of stone that had her trapped. When she saw Cody was still running off, she let out a mournful howl of despair as the tower collapsed fully behind her, leaving nothing but a gigantic pile of rubble.  
In the meantime, Sheela was looking for Sarah and beginning to panic. Sheela sighed to try and compose herself as she checked who was still alive out of the fighters who had joined them to assault the tower then got worried all over again when Sarah wasn’t anywhere to be seen. She immediately went into frantic sister mode and began worrying for the worse after a minute or two. She knew Sarah was careless but surely her little sister wasn’t careless enough to get herself killed was she?!  
‘Sarah!’ she called anxiously then quickly did a check in the sky, in case Sarah had decided to be an idiot and tried to fight in her pegasus form ‘Sarah, where are you?’ Her eyes widened when she saw two dark figures with large demonic wings fly into the night sky, hiding in the clouds that the Nightmare Blanket created to conceal them. Sheela felt her heart race and her breath hitch when she recognized the eerie sensation of a demon’s presence doubled over. Clutching her heart tightly, she closed her eyes and took a moment’s pause to compose herself. She bit her lip when she remembered that she had to find her sister and began looking around the remains of the clay soldiers in case she had gotten killed without knowing it. She heard rubble move behind her and turned round slowly to see her younger sister burst out and stagger onto her feet. She stood unevenly on her feet and swayed unsteadily.  
‘I’m OK,’ she said shakily before falling on top of a horrified Sheela ‘No need to worry about me, I’m perfectly…OK…’ Sheela caught her and held her steady.  
‘How on Ethylias did you manage to get buried underneath the rubble?!’ she demanded shrilly ‘You were supposed to be running away from the crumbling tower!’ Sarah held her head and moaned.  
‘I was running away from it when it was falling down,’ she slurred her words together ‘Then the tower decided to fall on top of poor little me when I tried to get away from it. Ow…Sheela, my head really hurts and I’m starting to see pink and blue ducks…’  
‘I’m not surprised,’ Sheela sighed, rolling her eyes at her sister’s bad luck and quirking an amused eyebrow at the hallucination that she had described ‘Come on you, back to the medical centre where you belong.’  
‘Shut up, sis,’ Sarah moaned grumpily.  
Meanwhile, Xeann burst out from the rubble, covered in snake egg yolk. She pulled a disgusted face as she wiped her face and pulled the egg shells out of her hair. She shook herself out and shuddered.  
‘Ugh, I never was a fan of eggs in general,’ she dismissed in disgust and brushed herself down. She turned round and picked up her tattered cloak. With a dismayed sigh, she put it on her and placed a hand painfully on the wound on her hip where one of the Titanoboas had successfully bitten her. She began scanning the rubble and saw a troll arm sprawled out of the rubble. She hurried over with a limp and began clearing away the rubble until she found the dead troll that she had left with Vienna. A groan was heard underneath the troll which startled Xeann.  
‘Nan…’ Vienna moaned from underneath the troll ‘Help me, I can’t breathe under here and I’ve got the biggest headache ever…’ Xeann sighed in relief as she held her breath and stretched her arms out to gently grab Vienna by the wrists and pull her out. She grunted as she tugged her granddaughter out from underneath the heavy corpse. The young teenager coughed and spluttered then hugged her tightly once she was free, making the older vampire hiss in pain.  
‘Watch it, I’m badly injured and it might make it worse if you hug me too tightly,’ she cautioned then looked around, her eyes glowing in the dark ‘Thank goodness I only left you with a troll and at a low level too. You could have seriously injured yourself if you were on the same level as me. Damon!’ She petted Vienna softly as she waited for her second eldest son, soothing her granddaughter whenever she moaned in pain. Vienna whined and hugged Xeann tighter.  
‘Nan, I think I broke something,’ she moaned in pain as she tried to move her limbs ‘The troll fell on top of me when the tower began to fall down…’  
‘Ssh…ssh, everything’s going to be alright, Vienna, it will stop hurting soon,’ Xeann cooed and waved her free arm to grab Damon’s attention ‘Damon, over here, dear! Come over here! I need some help with Vienna!’ Vienna whimpered and nuzzled Xeann softly for comfort. Xeann hushed her soothingly and rocked her back and forth while Vienna whined and cried in pain, burying her face in her grandmother’s chest.  
‘Nan, I’m sorry,’ the half wolf whined ‘I didn’t mean to say anything nasty to you and I just want to say…’   
‘You are going to survive, Vienna,’ Xeann said sharply when she predicted what her granddaughter was thinking as Damon crossed the rubble and bent down to study Vienna ‘You may be a werewolf but you’re vampire too and both species survive no matter what they think! Damon, get her over to Magia Town quickly!’  
‘OK, mum,’ Damon said with a firm nod and picked Vienna up gently, soothing her when she gasped in pain ‘I’ll be sure to get her over to Madison right away. I promise that she’ll be the first patient that she’ll be seen to!’ Xeann got to her feet unsteadily, as Damon jogged over to Magia Town with Vienna, and looked around, doing a quick check of everyone that was present.   
‘Sheela!’ she called ‘Sheela, are you still alive?!’ After a few minutes, Sheela came over after laying her sister down on a makeshift stretcher.  
‘Xeann, where did you go?’ she asked in concern ‘I couldn’t find you anywhere on the battlefield during the fight.’  
‘I went into the tower with Amber and Vienna to face the Queen with them and find out what happened to those who went to challenge her,’ Xeann explained and breathed in sharply when she pulled out a piece of a snake fang from her wound. She sighed painfully and rubbed her wound gently. ‘Ouch, I didn’t mean to break their fangs into pieces when I was getting out of their grip but they did have a good hold of me… Is there anyone at all that’s missing, Sheela?’  
‘Well, I’ve just found Sarah and I’ve sent her back to Magia Town to get looked at, we’re just checking the rubble for anyone that might have been flattened by the tower at the moment. I’ve just seen Damon and Vienna head over to Magia Town. But apart from that, I can’t find Amber anywhere.’ Xeann’s eyes widened when she realised how much danger Amber must have been in if she was nearer the top of the tower when it collapsed. Xeann didn’t know how far exactly Amber might have gone but she had a good idea that she must have been rather high up. She had a rather strong perseverance to find her family and Xeann didn’t blame her one bit. But that didn’t mean that the flame that kindled her determination wouldn’t soon die out and Xeann knew that Amber was just some mortal from the Enhanced category. Even if she was from the Enhanced category, a fall like that could have seriously injured poor Amber.  
‘Oh, lord,’ she gasped and covered her mouth in horror, tears brimming her blood red eyes ‘I put her in danger, the poor thing. I shouldn’t have let her go alone.’ She immediately looked around frantically for any signs of life underneath the rubble scattered around her, panic striking her heart. ‘Amber!’ she called and began walking around the rubble to search for any sign of her ‘Amber, can you hear me?!’ There was a low growl and rubble was sent flying everywhere a few metres away from her. Xeann turned and bared her fangs instinctually when she saw a minotaur emerge from the rubble but then saw it clearing away more rubble for something. A large cat emerged from the rubble next and shook out its massive body that was covered in thick fur. It picked up a small limp body and Xeann cried out to them. ‘Amber!’ She limped over and picked Amber up, cradling her gently. The large cat growled but Xeann hissed at it warningly before cupping Amber’s cheek ‘Amber, wake up. I know you’re alive, please Amber…’ She stared at Amber’s face worriedly until she saw amber eyes slowly open. Amber looked up at Xeann groggily, not really seeing her clearly.  
‘Mother?’ she croaked ‘Father? Jasper?’ Xeann sighed in relief and leant her forehead against Amber’s.  
‘Thank goodness,’ she sighed with a comforted smile ‘You’re alright, Amber, everything’s going to be alright now.’  
‘Mother!’ Xeann gasped as Amber suddenly threw her arms around her neck and began crying loudly. ‘I want my mother back! Give me my mother back! Give me my father back! Give me Jasper back! Give my baby brother back! Give them back! Give all of them back! Mother!’ Her chest heaved up and down as she tried and failed to swallow down her continuous sobs and let her tears trail down her cheeks. She let out a scream of frustration and began to weakly punch Xeann, burrowing her face into the elder vampire’s shoulder. Saphira turned her head round behind her as she was being helped towards Magia Town by a fighter when Amber’s wails echoed throughout the land. Sheela watched from afar with sad eyes while Xeann rocked Amber back and forth to soothe her. Sarah cracked her eyes open as she was carried over to Magia Town and grimaced when she recognized Amber’s cries of sorrow. Vienna bit her lip and tried to not cry when she heard Amber and saw the scenario over Damon’s shoulder. Xeann sighed forlornly and hugged the young teenager tightly while standing up. She let Amber bury her face into her chest and kissed the side of her head reassuringly.  
‘It’s alright, Amber,’ she murmured soothingly and began carrying her over to Magia Town ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be alright, Amber, just wait and see. We’re just going to patch you up everything’s going to be alright, I promise.’ As Amber closed her eyes, all she could remember was the demonic stare from the man that she had seen with the Queen.


	18. Continuing the Journey

When Amber woke up, she heard lots of shouting, lots of screams and lots of clattering of tools. She was lying on a hard bed, her head resting on a flat pillow. She could recognize some voices but failed to recognize others. Stirring out of the darkness that she was trapped in, Amber began to open her heavy eyelids and recognized the ceiling of her room in Magia Town. She sat up slowly, letting the blanket fall down her body, raising an eyebrow as she saw that her body was bound with fresh bandages. She looked over to Saphira’s bed and saw Saphira lying in her bed, some tell-tale bandages around her leg poking out from underneath the thin blankets that the medical centre could offer. She shakily swung her legs over the bed and stood up, hearing the voices more clearly now.  
‘Damon, get your psycho mother back in her bed!’ Amber recognized Miranda’s voice shout from outside her room ‘Not only is she driving me crazy, she’s distracting my patients, the male ones in particular!’  
‘Who are you calling psycho, you clumsy nurse!’ Xeann’s voice shouted underneath Miranda’s voice ‘You’re short on manpower and I know a thing or two in taking care of injured patients!’  
‘Mum, just get back to your bed, you’re still recovering,’ Damon’s tired voice filtered out underneath the two arguing women. Amber stumbled over to the door, feeling drained and weak, but more awake than when she had been before. She opened the door tiredly, still hearing the argument.  
‘At least get your mother a shirt to wear!’ Madison shrieked as she stormed past the young teenager with a bowl of medicine, or it looked like some form of medicine anyway.

‘Mum, please stop exposing so much skin!’ Damon shouted exasperatedly ‘And put on some shoes, you could step on some silver or something dangerous to you! Come on, put on a shirt like Miranda suggested, you’re attracting too much attention to yourself!’  
‘I don’t have any clothes to put on!’ Xeann shouted as she appeared on one side of the corridor in just her bra and leather trousers ‘Do you think I had time to pack up some spare clothes back at home when I was going after Vienna?!’  
‘Mum, it’s making me feel really uncomfortable seeing my friends seeing you dressed like this!’ Damon followed her as she made her way down the corridor ‘Come on, Mum, please? You don’t realise how embarrassing you are right now…’  
‘Lighten up, Damon!’ Xeann snapped ‘There’s not much to…’ Her eyes widened when she saw Amber and quickly walked over to grab her by the left shoulder, bending down to be at eye level. ‘How are you feeling, Amber?’ she asked. Amber grimaced and turned away.  
‘Not so good,’ she muttered.  
‘OK, off to bed,’ Xeann said as she picked up Amber and tucked her back into her bed ‘You took quite the fall and shock last week, it would be better if you didn’t strain yourself and relax as much as possible.’ Amber groaned in protest and sat up, grabbing Xeann by her hair.  
‘I saw her,’ she rasped as Xeann leaned over her ‘I saw and spoke to her.’  
‘Ssh, take it easy…’ Xeann hushed her soothingly and lay her back down ‘It’s alright, Amber. Everything’s alright. Just forget about the Queen for now and focus on recovering.’  
‘The Queen,’ Amber gripped her hair tighter ‘Xeann, she’s pregnant.’  
‘What?!’ Xeann exclaimed loudly with wide eyes, waking up Saphira ‘What do you mean she’s pregnant?!’ Saphira growled and sat up then softened her gaze when she saw Amber awake.  
‘What’s going on?’ she asked warily.  
‘The Queen was pregnant when I saw her in the tower,’ Amber rasped with wide eyes ‘She’s only sixteen too. Sixteen years of age, no more, no less. She’s as old as she looks.’  
‘Now, calm down, Amber,’ Xeann hushed, trying to take her hair out of Amber’s grip ‘You said it yourself, no sorceress can handle such dark magic when they’re a mere adolescent.’  
‘But that’s the thing, she didn’t create the Nightmare Blanket!’ Amber cried out ‘She has demons helping her! They created it, they’re the reason why everyone’s suffering! She is only a figurehead of sorts, the demons are the real problem.’  
‘Woah wait, slow down for a moment, Amber,’ Saphira said calmly, hissing in pain when she accidentally twisted her injured leg ‘The Queen is not the person that we should be targeting?’  
‘Are you telling me that the Nightmare Blanket above us is riddled with demonic power?!’ Xeann shouted with wide eyes. Amber nodded and Xeann turned to stare at the sky outside. ‘This is more serious than I thought,’ she whispered, her face looking more pale than usual ‘If my children are being tormented by demons then I will not stand for it!’ She tried to stand up but yelped as Amber pulled her down, still gripping her hair. Amber stared at her eyes.  
‘She’s met my father and tried to recruit him,’ she whispered with teary eyes ‘We have to chase after her, she must know what happened to him after he left.’  
‘Chase after them?’ Xeann frowned ‘What do you mean?’  
‘They collapsed the tower so they could escape,’ Amber whispered ‘The Queen said that they were going to move to the Southern Tower.’ Xeann managed to pull her hair out of Amber’s grip and stood up.  
‘I’ll see if I can find anything south of here if she went in that direction,’ she said and walked out ‘You two stay here and recover from your injuries.’  
‘Wait just a minute!’ Saphira sat up then whined when she brushed her leg.  
‘Hm?’ Xeann paused as Saphira looked at her with a glare.  
‘You will come back, right?’ she said with narrowed eyes. Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘Why do you want to know?’ she asked.  
‘Because you’ll find Cody if you can reach the Queen,’ Saphira leaned on her arm and elbow ‘You better come back when you find her so we can sort things out with Her Majesty together.’ Xeann smirked and leaned down.  
‘I’ll come back in about two weeks if I can leave right now,’ she said ‘Or if you want, I could stay here to make sure you lot get better properly and leave the investigating until later.’ Saphira glowered at her patronizing tone.  
‘You are not welcome here,’ she snarled. Xeann yelped as she was suddenly thrown out of the room, the door slamming shut. Xeann growled, rubbing her behind as she got up.  
‘The little bitch, she could have at least asked,’ she grumbled before heading upstairs to her room. She stormed into the dull room, grabbing her tattered cloak to clothe herself a little bit. Vienna moaned from her bed and opened her eyes.  
‘Ugh, Nan,’ she mumbled blearily as Xeann began attaching her utility belt to her trousers ‘You couldn’t have at least packed one set of fresh clothes?’ Xeann raised an eyebrow and pulled on her leather gloves.  
‘I thought I’d catch up to you quickly,’ she said before standing in front of a shattered mirror and hesitating when she remembered that she didn’t have a reflection ‘I must stop doing that.’  
‘You’re a natural born vampire, why are you checking yourself in the mirror if you’ve grown up knowing that you don’t have a reflection?’ Vienna raised an unimpressed eyebrow.  
‘You check your reflection,’ Xeann pouted towards her granddaughter.  
‘I’m half vampire, I have something of a reflection in the mirror to check my appearance,’ Vienna snarled. Xeann sighed and shrugged while combing her tangled hair carefully with her fingers.  
‘I stayed over one of my human friend’s house for a week and she kept on lecturing me to check my reflection,’ she explained and pulled a face then pulled her hood up ‘Now, I should be back within two weeks…’  
‘Where are you going?’ Vienna narrowed her eyes warily, wincing when she accidentally brushed her damaged torso against the mattress ‘You’re not going to go off on some dangerous expedition without me, are you?’  
‘The Queen’s fled south apparently,’ Xeann said as she marched over to the door ‘I’m going to follow her and see if two demons will be any more difficult than one…’  
‘Demons?!’ Vienna yelped and let out a frightened whine. Xeann smiled warmly.  
‘Aw, you don’t want your dear grandmother to get hurt by two mean demons,’ she cooed and advanced to ruffle Vienna’s hair ‘It’s alright, I’ve faced a demon before, I should be fine with two, my dear granddaughter.’  
‘You’re not welcome here!’ Vienna shouted to avoid getting her hair ruffled. Xeann yelped as she was thrown out of the room by an invisible force and the door slammed in her face.  
‘I know she’s my granddaughter but she’s still a bitch,’ the annoyed vampire groaned as she got up ‘Twice in a day, this might look bad for me.’ She paused suddenly then glared at the door. ‘It’s my room too!’ she shouted before storming off in a huff. She hesitated when she passed Sheela and Sarah’s room then quickly poked her head in. ‘How are you two holding up?’  
‘I’m OK!’ Xeann winced when Sarah abruptly sat up and fell out of her bed. ‘I’m still OK!’ Sheela sighed exasperatedly and leaned down to help her back onto her bed.  
‘How about you, Xeann?’ Sheela asked Xeann as Sarah winced in pain when she accidentally brushed over a healing wound. Xeann grimaced.  
‘I got thrown out of two rooms by the werewolves,’ she said ‘Listen, I’m going to be gone for about two weeks.’  
‘Why?’ Sarah asked tilting her head to the side questioningly.  
‘The Queen is still out there and I’m going to track her down,’ Xeann answered ‘If I do not come back, Sheela, I want you to take charge of the group.’  
‘What if the Queen’s forces attack Magia Town?’ Sheela asked as she walked up to Xeann. Xeann stared into her sky blue eyes and sighed.  
‘I want you to take the others back across the mountain,’ she explained calmly ‘Stay in Vigour Village until you’re sure things have calmed down or until I reach you.’  
‘In which direction are you going?’  
‘Amber thinks that the Queen has evacuated south with her followers so I’m going to go in that direction.’ Sheela’s eyes widened.  
‘That would be dangerous,’ she whispered ‘Even for a vampire, a weakened vampire like yourself…’  
‘I am still full of life, youth and strength, young lady,’ Xeann retorted sharply and flicked Sheela’s nose irritably ‘And I know that the further south I go, the harsher the conditions will be. I’m used to the cold, what can a little bit of snow do to me?’  
‘It will be hail the size of light bulbs, not a little bit of snow,’ Sheela retorted and leaned on the door frame. Xeann smirked.  
‘I’ll survive,’ she said and placed a hand on one of her blades thoughtfully, running her thumb over the handle ‘Light bulbs you say? Sounds like fun.’ Sheela smiled and yawned tiredly.  
‘Ugh, you won’t believe how many times I had to wake up because of Sarah,’ she groaned and held her hand against her forehead. Xeann laughed softly.  
‘Well, I need to get a move on,’ she said and began walking down the corridor.  
‘Oh, wait!’ Xeann turned as Sheela retreated into her room and came out with her bodice and corset. ‘We managed to find them amongst the remains of the tower,’ she said and Xeann marched over to her to take them. Xeann immediately began snapping the corset onto her torso then pulling her bodice over it, pulling the cords sharply and sighing blissfully when the material hugged her breasts into her body.  
‘Still keeps me comfortable,’ she smiled softly and her eyes sparkled when Sheela held up her high heel boots. Sheela smiled.  
‘I took the liberty to clean them up as much as I could,’ she said as she placed them down and Xeann jumped into them immediately. With a satisfied sigh, she walked around in them keenly, flicking one up to examine the heel of it.  
‘Hm, not in perfect condition because of those beautiful Titanoboas,’ she sighed in dismay and placed her foot down ‘But they’ll do. I couldn’t imagine what travelling would be like without them.’  
‘A lot easier, considering the world as we know it now,’ Sheela muttered to herself as Xeann turned round full towards her and smiled widely. With a toothy grin, Xeann embraced Sheela tightly to show her gratitude.  
‘Thank you, Sheela, I’ll leave everything up to you now,’ she thanked and kissed Sheela’s forehead, winked then marched off downstairs, her heels clicking loudly in the failing building ‘I’ll see you in two weeks!’ Sheela smiled softly and waved her goodbye.  
‘Come back safely,’ she murmured as she heard Xeann go out of the medical centre and the door falling off its hinges again.


	19. Over the Hyacin Mountains

Amber sat on the roof of the medical centre cross-legged patiently, watching out over the wasteland where a pile of black rock and metal stood clustered in the centre. She endured the baking sun as she waited for a familiar dark shape to come towards Magia Town. She could hear Sarah falling down the stairs again and Sheela shouting at her. With a tired and bored sigh, she threw the pebble in her hand to another building near her, watching it as it bounced off the thatched roof and fell through one of the holes.  
‘Hey, Amber,’ Saphira stuck her head out from the hole in the roof next to her ‘You’ve been up here for hours. Come back down.’  
‘It’s been two weeks and a day now,’ Amber said simply and curled her knees into her chest ‘She should be back by now.’ Saphira sighed as she heaved herself up onto the roof and sat down in front of Amber.  
‘She must have lost track of time, vampires often do that because they age so slowly,’ she suggested with a shrug ‘Come on, Amber, I’ve managed to snatch some meat off the feral minotaurs that are roaming around free now for our dinner. Surely you must be hungry after spending so much time up here.’ Amber’s stomach grumbled and Amber turned away sharply.  
‘I won’t eat until Xeann gets back like she promised,’ she said determinedly and Saphira sighed tiredly.  
‘Amber, you know Xeann isn’t invincible like a lot of people think,’ Saphira placed an arm around Amber’s shoulders ‘She might have ended up in another sticky situation like the Croft’s Raven.’  
‘It’s too soon to say things like that!’ Amber snapped irritably.  
‘Then it’s too soon to assume that she isn’t going to come back,’ Saphira began to tuck Amber back down the hole ‘Come on, the meat won’t keep forever and it took me ages to snatch it off them.’  
‘You could have asked me,’ Amber said absent-mindedly ‘The feral minotaurs think that I’m their new alpha female.’  
‘I did ask you but you were too hooked up on waiting upon Xeann’s arrival,’ Saphira growled with an annoyed twitch of her brow ‘Now come on, it must be finished roasting in the sun by now.’  
‘Wait!’ Amber suddenly stood up with wide eyes ‘She’s there! She’s there, look, Saphira, look!’ When Saphira looked, her eyes widened when she saw a staggering figure coming from the Hyacin Mountains and across the wasteland.  
‘Vampires don’t bleed like that normally,’ she murmured when she saw the trail of blood that followed the dark figure then widened her eyes more when Amber abruptly jumped off the roof ‘Hey, wait!’ She sighed tiredly, closing her eyes briefly so she could transform into her feral wolf form then jumped off to grab Amber and lumber off in Xeann’s direction. Xeann swayed as Saphira screeched in front of her and Amber quickly slipped off Saphira.  
‘Hey, Xeann, are you alright?’ Amber asked and Xeann smiled.  
‘If you’re worried about the blood, one of my gourds leaked,’ she said and yelped as Saphira grabbed her and swung her over her shoulder.  
‘I’m really hungry so let’s get back,’ Saphira snarled and grabbed Amber to swing over her other shoulder and lumbered back over to Magia Town. Xeann hissed in pain as Saphira’s claws accidentally dug into her skin as the blue werewolf stormed into the medical centre and trudged upstairs, breaking one of the stairs carelessly. She stormed into the room that she and Amber were staying in, throwing Xeann onto her bed and Amber onto hers. She shrunk into her human form and grabbed the two slices of meat that were roasting on the window sill, tossing a piece to Amber who caught it with one hand while stumbling over to Xeann. Saphira sat down on the stool in the corner, muttering under her breath while tearing away at her piece of meat hungrily.  
‘Xeann, what happened?’ Amber asked worriedly as she chewed on her meat absent-mindedly. Xeann groaned and held up her gourd and drank deeply. She grimaced as she pulled out her leaking gourd and drank the remaining contents. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and relaxed.  
‘I ran into a nasty surprise over the Hyacin Mountains,’ she grimaced and glanced over at Amber ‘You know about the fact that the Nightmare Blanket has made several creatures, Abnormal creatures in particular, unnaturally grotesque and fall under the Queen’s possession?’ Amber nodded eagerly and Xeann pulled her soaked cloak off, casting it aside to reveal the ice shards buried in her arms and side. Amber gasped and Xeann looked over to Saphira. ‘Help me out here please.’ Saphira snorted as she raised one of her hands and clenched it. The shards flew out of Xeann, making the vampire hiss in pain when the shards were pulled out without any gentility. Saphira smirked widely and snorted.  
‘Serves you right for being so late,’ she grumbled and Amber grabbed the roll of bandages on the bedside table, quickly wrapping them around Xeann’s arms. Xeann sneered at her distastefully before sitting up to let Amber wrap the bandages around her torso.  
‘As I was saying, there’s a large Ice Narwhine on the other side of those mountains,’ Xeann continued, nodding her head to the large mountains to the left of the wasteland ‘Those snow clouds are caused by it and it nearly struck me down.’ Amber tilted her head with a frown.  
‘What’s a Narwhine?’ she asked and Xeann opened her mouth with a confused frown then sighed.  
‘Oh yes, you grew up in a desert, I forgot,’ she mumbled and sat back ‘Do you know what a narwhal looks like?’ Amber shook her head and Xeann sighed in frustration. ‘A whale?’ Amber nodded when she remembered the picture books that her mother used to show her when she was a young child. ‘Right, now imagine that whale to have a horn like a unicorn then imagine it about half the size of a mountain and it’s got an armour made out of ice.’ Amber blinked blankly as she tried to imagine such a creature.  
‘Do such creatures exist?’ she asked and Xeann nodded.  
‘Well, they’re usually about six metres long but this one has had a touch of demonic magic from the Nightmare Blanket,’ Xeann grimaced and fingered her bandages thoughtfully.  
‘And how long did you have to spend fighting it?’ Saphira asked with a concerned frown.  
‘Oh, I didn’t dare fight such a creature,’ Xeann looked alarmed at the thought ‘She didn’t seem to notice me though until I was on my way back.’  
‘How do you know that it’s a girl?’ Amber asked curiously.  
‘The way she reacted to my presence when I was coming back matched the behaviour of a protective mother,’ Xeann shrugged ‘I could be wrong but I’m just assuming that it’s a female Narwhine that we’re dealing with.’  
‘Dealing with?’ Saphira cut in ‘Are you saying that we have to go and face this thing?’  
‘Well I did find that tower,’ Xeann shrugged ‘The guns and cannons aren’t working so we can infiltrate it easily.’  
‘Didn’t you go in yourself?’ Amber asked with a confused frown.  
‘I was hoping that when we got back that the blizzard would blow over,’ Xeann explained ‘And I was running low on blood so I didn’t want to take a risk.’ She hissed in pain as she accidentally twisted her leg in the wrong way and Amber carefully twisted it back round again. Xeann yelped and Amber winced when they heard a crack.  
‘Did that feel right?’ Amber asked sheepishly as Saphira winced sympathetically.  
‘No,’ Xeann said through gritted teeth ‘Especially when it got buried by a ton of ice and I landed on it when I slipped down a slope.’  
‘You certainly like getting injured a lot,’ Saphira remarked with a smirk.  
‘No, oversized feral creatures don’t seem to like me very much,’ Xeann glared at her briefly as Amber ran out to fetch Madison. Saphira sneered at her before tearing off another piece of meat and chewing it moodily. Vienna stumbled in and widened her eyes when she saw Xeann.  
‘Where were you?’ she demanded ‘You said you would be two weeks!’  
‘OK, so I was delayed by a day because a Narwhine tried to freeze me and swallow me whole,’ Xeann rolled her eyes ‘Would you rather I went off by myself to the tower and found your parents on my own so you would miss out on the action?’ Vienna’s eyebrow twitched in annoyance and she sighed tiredly.  
‘You know you’re such a pain,’ she mumbled with a pout ‘Anyway, how long is this going to take to heal?’ She gestured to Xeann’s bandages and Xeann shrugged.  
‘Perhaps Madison can look at it, I’m not a professional nurse you know,’ she said and gently ran a hand across her torso ‘It could have been worse though.’  
‘Hey, I heard that you were back!’ Sarah came running into the bedroom and tripped over her feet, crashing into Xeann and making the poor vampire hiss in pain.  
‘Nice to see you too, Sarah,’ she said through gritted teeth as blood began to seep through the bandages. Amber huffed in frustration as Sheela came in after her sister with Madison.  
‘Those were fresh bandages as well,’ she mumbled sulkily and handed over the roll to Madison who took it and began examining Xeann carefully. Madison let out a low whistle as she gently parted the bandages and saw Xeann’s gash.  
‘Well what happened here, did an oversized Narwhine try to eat you alive or something?’ she joked with a laugh.  
‘She tried to bury me alive and when that didn’t work she nearly gorged me to death with her horn,’ Xeann raised an eyebrow at Madison’s accurate diagnosis ‘How long have you been a nurse?’  
‘Oh, my family have been doctors and nurses for generations,’ Madison scoffed as she gently pressed two fingers on the gash to heal it ‘I started learning all about medicine before I learnt how to walk and talk.’  
‘My father waited until I could walk and talk before he began teaching me how to kill people,’ Amber mused quietly and Madison raised a disapproving eyebrow.  
‘You haven’t actually killed anyone have you?’ she asked and Amber quickly shook her head.  
‘No, ma’am. Assassins need to be at least eighteen before they can start going on proper missions.’ Madison rolled her eyes and pulled her fingers away from Xeann.  
‘There,’ she said and removed the bandages on Xeann’s body ‘Give it a day or two of complete rest and you should be fit and healthy enough for travelling again.’ Amber stared at the smooth pale skin that was once marred by a nasty gash and rubbed her shoulder thoughtfully. The large circular scar on her shoulder had always bothered her about what had happened at the tower. Amber recognized the fact that it was the Queen herself that had begun healing her then deliberately interrupted the spell to scar her.   
Amber stood up and walked out to go back onto the roof and contemplate about the time she had at the Tower that had been standing in the wasteland. No-one followed her so she stretched her arms out and lay back, taking up most of the space and letting the sun warm her skin. Being in the Enhanced category and living in a desert for her whole life, Amber’s skin couldn’t easily get sunburnt luckily, even with the Nightmare Blanket making the weather worse. What Amber really hated was a tan but at this point in time, she couldn’t care less on how she looked. Rolling her shoulders stiffly, Amber pulled her hair out of its bunches and began finger combing it thoughtfully. She remembered seeing the Queen on the steps, about to leave for evacuation. Those bright ethereal magenta eyes made Amber feel numb and immobilized her for a moment. Normally the stare of a demon would do that but the Queen didn’t give off that sort of aura. Amber recognized that feeling though, as if staring into the world of the dead but she couldn’t remember exactly where she had felt it before. Then there was that demon that came down the stairs to help her get out of the Tower before it crumbled down completely. He called her something and Amber closed her eyes to briefly remember what happened during those few seconds.  
‘…Florence, huh?’ she murmured and opened her eyes to stare at the fake sky ‘Sounds like a pretty normal name for someone who’s taken over the world.’ She smirked and closed her eyes again. ‘Queen Florence. I suppose she kept her name a secret because it doesn’t really have a ring to it.’ She laughed loudly and rolled around with a grin. Saphira poked her head out of the hole in the roof and raised an eyebrow at Amber’s manic laughter.  
‘That’s it, you’ve officially gone mad from the sun,’ she said and grabbed Amber by the shoulders to pull her back down into the medical centre ‘No more going to the roof for you.’ Amber just kept on laughing at how ridiculously simple the Queen, or Florence, looked now as she was dragged back to her room.


	20. The Narwhine

‘Come on girls, keep up!’ Xeann called over her shoulder as they climbed up one of the slopes of the Hyacin Mountains.  
‘Easy for you to say, stupid vampire,’ Vienna snarled in her tame wolf form as she tried to scramble over a boulder that stood in her way. Sarah gasped as she toppled backwards and landed on Sheela, sending the sisters tumbling down the slope and landing on top of poor Amber who was at the back of the group. Saphira winced, ears flat as she and Xeann neared the top of the slope where a steady path was.  
‘We should have brought some rope,’ she commented once Xeann’s high heels settled themselves on the path.  
‘I don’t trust rope nowadays,’ Xeann said as she pulled off one of her gourds of blood to take a swig from ‘I would show you the injuries I’ve had from their lack of sturdiness during the past few months if they weren’t located in my private parts.’  
‘Yeah, too much information,’ Saphira whined and flattened her ears. Xeann laughed while watching her granddaughter.  
‘Hey, Vienna!’ she called ‘I think it would be best if you go around that boulder.’  
‘Don’t tell me what to do!’ Vienna barked as Sheela walked around the boulder that she was stuck on.  
‘Sweetie, I know you’re trying to impress your friends but this isn’t the right time,’ Xeann said in a very patronizing tone.  
‘When I get up there, there will be blood spilt!’ Vienna vowed as she made more of an effort to scramble over the boulder.  
‘If you get up here,’ Xeann muttered to herself ‘Would you like any help?’  
‘No!’ Xeann sighed impatiently and folded her arms.  
‘Sarah, please help my granddaughter so that we don’t have to wait forever for her,’ she said to Sarah once she reached Vienna.  
‘No, no, no, I can handle this myself!’ Vienna yelped as Sarah took one look at her and yelped as she lost her grip, rolled back down the slope and on top of poor Amber. Amber grunted when the wolf landed on top of her, groaning at the same time as Vienna.  
‘You’re heavier than you look,’ she grumbled grumpily.  
‘You’re not a bad person to land on, actually,’ Vienna commented as she scrambled up to her feet. Amber sighed and sat up, rubbing her waist where Vienna had landed on.  
‘Come on, girls!’ Xeann called ‘No dilly-dallying allowed on this journey!’  
‘How in God’s name did you manage to get up there first in your high heels anyway, you ancient zombie?!’ Vienna shouted at her grandmother in a snappy manner when Amber suddenly felt really dizzy. Amber suddenly retched, getting onto her hands and knees and panting softly, feeling very, very sick. The heat of the sun didn’t help much as she began to feel like she was going to throw up her stomach. Vienna noticed her sudden change in behaviour and nosed her curiously.  
‘I’m fine,’ Amber breathed as she staggered up to her feet ‘Let’s…get going.’ She began staggering up the slope. Vienna whined and followed her, head-butting her rump gently whenever it looked like she was going to topple over backwards. Xeann pulled a worried face once they reached the top and crouched down to press a hand onto Amber’s forehead.  
‘Hey, sweetie, you feeling alright?’ she asked and Amber shrugged her off.  
‘I’m fine, let’s go,’ she said and forced herself to walk ahead of the others. Xeann raised an eyebrow whilst standing up.  
‘Why, isn’t she a snappy young lady?’ she said with hands on her hips as Vienna scrambled up onto the path at long last ‘What do you reckon has gotten into her?’  
‘I don’t know,’ the lilac wolf wheezed as she lay down for a rest ‘But I bet it’s your fault.’ Xeann gave her a swat around the ear after that remark. Sarah gasped and tugged on Sheela’s sleeve urgently.  
‘Sheela, Sheela, look!’ she said as Sheela pulled her dress sleeve out of her sister’s grip. Sheela looked up and her pupils dilated as a large ice underbelly moved above them.  
‘You weren’t kidding about the Narwhine’s size then,’ Sheela murmured as everyone, apart from Amber, looked up.  
‘We shouldn’t worry that much,’ Saphira commented as she lay on her back to get a good look at what they could see of the Narwhine ‘They’re rather peaceful, right?’  
‘Not when they’re expecting babies,’ Xeann said and frowned at Saphira ‘I thought you would have known that, Narwhines are rather common in the Frigus Mountains…’  
‘Eh, they always migrated north when it was breeding season,’ Saphira shrugged.  
‘Uh…guys?’ Sarah squeaked ‘It’s heading over to Amber…’ Xeann’s eyes widened when she saw that Amber had still not spotted the Narwhine above her.  
‘Amber, watch out!’ she shouted as the Narwhine let out a low rumbling sound, slamming its body into the blue mountain. The mountain trembled and everyone, apart from Xeann, fell over. Xeann only stumbled slightly, leaning against the mountain to keep her balance. She gasped as Amber lay across the path, steadily rolling over to the edge of the path where a four hundred foot drop lay. Sheela saw this and grabbed Sarah by the wrist, getting up and jumping off the ledge at the same time as when Amber fell.  
‘Sheela!’ Saphira shouted as Sarah clung onto her sister fearfully. Sheela’s bright blue eyes turned silver as her whole body was enveloped in light. Soon Sarah was riding a silver pegasus cross unicorn and reached out to grab Amber as they chased after her. Sarah managed to catch Amber and drag her onto Sheela without dropping her.   
‘Amber!’ Sarah said loudly and shook Amber harshly ‘Wake up!’  
‘Mother?’ Amber murmured in her sleep.  
‘Huh?’ Sarah frowned in confusion at the response and tilted her head to the side ‘No, it’s Sarah! Wake up!’  
‘Save it, Sarah,’ Sheela said as she ascended to avoid getting hit by the Narwhine’s tail ‘There’s something wrong with her.’  
‘Hey woah, fly faster!’ Sarah shouted as it began to rain icicles. The Narwhine’s growl went from a low pitch to a high pitch as it tried to hit the girls with its tail. Xeann shielded Saphira and Vienna with her body while staring up at the Narwhine, frantically thinking of something to distract it. But it was huge! She would only be like an ant to the large beast. She knew Narwhines were attracted to singing but her voice alone wouldn’t be able to grab the Narwhine’s attention. She stared at the terrified wolves, by now they had turned back into their human forms, and looked at Saphira suddenly.  
‘Saphira, you are half sorceress through your mother’s side, aren’t you?’ she asked and Saphira blinked at her and nodded once ‘Are you familiar with any spells?’  
‘My specialty is cold weather conditions like this,’ she replied and yelped when the Narwhine slammed its tail into the mountain when it missed its target.  
‘Can you perform any voice boosting spells?’ Xeann asked and Saphira shook her head.  
‘But I know the chant and what it requires,’ she said ‘I could try. But then again, the Nightmare Blanket might hold me down…’  
‘Why are you asking for a voice-boosting spell, I doubt we can shatter the Narwhine with your singing,’ Vienna raised an eyebrow.  
‘Vienna Susanna Sierra Murphy, I know this isn’t the right time or place but NO-ONE insults my singing!’ Xeann suddenly snapped angrily and Vienna winced ‘Come on, follow me.’ They got up and began running down the path, dodging the icicles falling on them. Xeann spotted a small cave up ahead and further on was a high ledge that she could stand on to sing. She grabbed Vienna and threw her into the cave as they passed it. Vienna yelped as she landed in it and growled, poking her head out.   
‘At least give me a warning!’ she shouted which made Xeann roll her eyes. She grabbed Saphira by the wrist and stood her underneath the ledge.   
‘Wait here and start fabricating the spell now,’ she commanded ‘I will know when it’ll take hold of me so don’t worry about telling me when it’s in effect.’ Saphira nodded and Xeann began climbing up onto the ledge as she sat down and held her hands out. Energy sparked out of her fingertips, joining together to form a small ball while she chanted under her breath. Xeann stood on the ledge, watching the girls struggling to fly with the Narwhine chasing them. Sarah clung onto both Amber and Sheela, her eyes squeezed tight shut.  
‘We’re not going to make it!’ she shouted making Sheela whinny loudly and snort irritably.  
‘Don’t say things like that!’ she scolded.  
‘And I suppose you have a plan to get us out of this?’ Sarah asked as the sisters made eye contact ‘You got us into this mess in the first place!’  
‘Just give me some time to think!’ The sisters ceased squabbling as a harmonious voice echoed in the cold wintry air. The Narwhine hummed a low note in response and turned towards the mountain to see what was making the beautiful singing. Xeann stood her ground, singing as loud as her lungs could bear to catch the Narwhine’s attention, Saphira’s voice-boosting spell taking effect. Vienna stood outside the cave, waving her arms to catch Sheela’s attention.  
‘Come on!’ her voice just reached Sarah’s enhanced hearing ‘In here!’  
‘Over there in the cave, Sheela! Hya!’ Sarah dug her heel into Sheela’s side, making her sister whinny in surprise.  
‘Don’t do that!’ she snapped and began flying over to the cave. Xeann spotted them coming in her direction and sighed in relief.  
‘Saphira!’ Her boosted voice made Saphira’s ears ring and the blue werewolf whined.  
‘Don’t talk so loudly!’ she snapped and Xeann sighed, rolling her eyes.  
‘I’m going to go ahead,’ she said in a quieter tone ‘If Amber doesn’t recover, take her down to the village there.’ Saphira looked down and saw a small cluster of huts covered in snow below. She then looked at Xeann who sighed. ‘It might take me a week or so to go to the tower and come back so wait for me that long.’  
‘What if you don’t come back?’ Saphira asked and Xeann shrugged.  
‘Expect the worst has happened to me and let Sheela take charge of the group,’ she replied ‘I’ll find you sooner or later if the worst hasn’t happened to me.’ Saphira looked wary for a moment and nodded. Xeann looked up at the Narwhine, staring into its glowing red eyes before opening her mouth to continue singing. The Narwhine let out a few moans in response and began following her away from Saphira who retreated into the cave.  
‘OK, Xeann’s just gone ahead and left Sheela in charge and we should expect the worst has happened to her if she doesn’t come back within a week,’ she said as Sheela turned into her human form and bent down to feel Amber’s forehead.  
‘Amber’s burning up,’ she whispered softly ‘Does anyone know how long she has been like this?’  
‘Well she didn’t look too hot on her feet when we were climbing,’ Vienna shrugged.  
‘Yeah, considering both you and Sarah landed on her after you fell down,’ Saphira raised an eyebrow and Sheela’s eyes widened when she lifted Amber’s shirt.  
‘Merciful Heavens, there’s pus leaking through her bandages!’ she exclaimed when she saw yellow-orange pus coming through the dirty bandages on Amber’s body.  
‘Eww!’ Sarah pulled a face and retreated to the back of the cave. She yelped as she tripped over something. Saphira pricked herself up when she heard a similar yelp follow Sarah’s and her eyes widened when she saw a wolf in the cave with them. A blonde wolf.  
‘CODY!’ Cody yelped again as Saphira pounced on him and began icing him to the ground. Cody whimpered and struggled when his paws became frozen solid to the ground and looked up at Saphira pleadingly.  
‘Please, Saph,’ he begged ‘I won’t try to run away, I’m too tired…’  
‘I am so not falling for that façade again,’ Saphira raised an eyebrow as she settled herself on top of her cousin ‘Sheela, do you know any binding spells?’  
‘Stand back, my binding spells tend to get a bit snappy,’ Sheela warned as a response, raising her hand at Cody. Saphira stood up and stepped away, her eyes widening when black cords snapped out of Sheela’s fingertips, cut through her ice and snapped themselves around Cody’s body and paws. Cody whined in pain.  
‘This is highly undignified,’ he complained ‘Couldn’t you have waited until I was in human form to bound me?’  
‘Cody, I’ve been chasing you for nearly five months,’ Saphira raised her other eyebrow ‘I am not taking any risks.’ Cody whined and rolled onto his side sulkily.  
‘Naw, poor puppy…’ Sarah cooed and patted Cody’s head affectionately.  
‘Yes, poor me,’ Cody agreed and wagged his tail appreciatively as Sarah’s fingers tickled his ears. Sheela rolled her eyes as she gently pried Amber’s bandages apart and hissed in sympathy.  
‘Zennalpha plague,’ she muttered as she pulled some cloth from her dress and dabbed some of the pus up ‘It looks like it’s been in Amber’s body for months. This is the secondary stage.’  
‘Will she make it?’ Vienna was about to nose the pus thoughtfully but Sheela flicked her nose.  
‘Any contact with the pus and you’ll be infected,’ Sheela warned.  
‘But you’re touching it!’ Sarah protested.  
‘I’m the leader of the group now, I will put myself at risk to try and save Amber,’ Sheela said calmly ‘Plus I can cure Zennalpha plague by myself in the early stages.’ She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as she pulled Amber’s shirt down, discarding the pus covered scrap of material outside. ‘I don’t understand how this has gone unnoticed.’  
‘Oh wait, I know,’ Saphira suddenly said ‘Cody kidnapped her from Vigour Village whilst she was still being treated.’  
‘And if you didn’t attack me, she wouldn’t have it any more,’ Cody grumbled ‘Stop trying to make me out like I’m the bad guy.’  
‘You are the bad guy at the moment!’ Saphira snapped grumpily.  
‘Naw, the puppy was trying to help Amber,’ Sarah cooed and Cody panted happily when she tickled his belly.  
‘Sarah, stop coddling the hostage,’ Sheela snapped.  
‘And please stop calling him a puppy, he’s far from that,’ Saphira snapped afterwards with a vicious snarl. Sarah and Cody whined simultaneously whilst Sarah stood up and walked away from Cody. Sheela took off her shawl and wrapped Amber up in it, wiping her hand over Amber’s sweating forehead.  
‘We’re going to rest here,’ she decided ‘I don’t think we could possibly follow Xeann with Amber like this.’  
‘If Amber doesn’t recover, Xeann suggested that we take her down to the village below,’ Saphira said.  
‘Alright, that’s what we’ll do,’ Sheela nodded as she gently lay Amber down in a more comfortable position.  
‘I’ll stay up to keep watch,’ Vienna volunteered and the girls nodded in agreement, curling up to get some sleep.


	21. Nightmare and Horror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My babies :3

Xeann lay in the snow after falling off the mountain when the Narwhine slammed its tail into her back. Clearly it hadn’t been impressed with her singing but then again, everyone was a critic. Xeann grunted as she pushed herself up onto her feet, brushing the snow off her trousers. She looked up and sighed when she saw the large ominous tower a few kilometres ahead. She pulled her hood up and advanced towards the tower, rubbing her arms for extra warmth as the blizzard over the tower blew faster. She didn’t know how long it took, she just felt relief when she reached the rusted doors of the tower, shoving them open and stumbling inside. She breathed evenly as she lowered her hood and looked up. There was a large hole going through the tower and Xeann then noticed how much in disrepair the tower actually was.   
‘Is this a sort of design then?’ she asked to herself and began ascending the stairs ‘Either very clever or very foolish.’ Snow fell from the opening in the ceiling and from the holes that the tower had on the walls. Xeann’s boots made the iron stairs creak as she began exploring and observing her surroundings. When she reached a platform, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously when she saw that it was to mimic a living room with a sofa in the corner, torn apart with its stuffing falling out, a broken television on the other side, the aerial gone and a static screen only showing, but what caught Xeann’s complete attention was a coffee table that had an assortment of picture frames on them. Some of them were empty, others weren’t. Xeann walked over to the coffee table, carefully picking one up. It was a torn picture that was inside. Half of it was missing but Xeann didn’t care about that. What scared her the most was that it was a picture of her. A picture that had been taken when she was about ten years old. She dropped the frame abruptly and the glass shattered as a pain seared through her head. She gasped and placed a hand over her forehead.   
‘You looked so adorable back then, I must admit.’ Xeann gasped and turned on her heel to see a shadow flit past. A cackle echoed through the tower and Xeann continued turning round to try and catch a glimpse of the person, or people, that were here. Suddenly everything stopped and Xeann turned again, feeling rather dizzy, to see a young man seated on the broken sofa, arms casually spread out and one leg over the other.  
‘Who are you?’ she asked and her heart was suddenly pierced with fear, the fear from her nightmares. She grunted and clutched the place over her heart and realised, while looking into the young man’s bright blue eyes, that he was a demon. The man laughed and tossed his dark blue hair.  
‘I am Nightmare,’ he introduced himself.  
‘And I am Horror.’ Xeann turned to see a similar looking man with ginger hair and orange eyes sitting on the broken television, the aerial in his hands. The horror of seeing her friends killed struck Xeann’s heart next as she made eye contact with him, making her stumble backwards, closing her eyes.  
‘I see…’ she murmured ‘I would assume you would know who I was.’  
‘Please, dearie,’ Nightmare grinned as he suddenly appeared directly behind her ‘introduce yourself. Play the game.’ Xeann straightened up, slowly opening her eyes.  
‘Fine. My name is Xeann,’ she said.  
‘And what a pretty name it is,’ Horror purred as he suddenly appeared over her.  
‘For a pretty girlie a pretty name must be given to her,’ Nightmare commented as he trailed a finger down Xeann’s cheek.  
‘Don’t you dare touch me!’ Xeann shouted as she unsheathed her blades and swerved to attack the both of them. The ruined tower was filled with laughter as the demons jumped back, unsheathing swords of their hair colour. Xeann noticed the way that they were dressed similarly as they became blurs of dark blue and orange, sleeveless tops and trousers colour coded to their physical appearances. Nightmare suddenly dashed forward and she barely blocked his attack, kicking him in the chest and began ascending up the stairs. Each demon took his turn to lunge at her as she climbed the iron stairs and each time they became stronger and harder for Xeann to block. Eventually Horror hit her when she reached the next platform and she was pushed over, sent flying into one of the columns that supported the platform above. She grunted as she slumped to the floor and opened her eyes to stand up and run at the demons as they reached the platform. They swerved out of the way, Nightmare thrusting the hilt of his sword into Xeann’s stomach as he passed her. Xeann gasped as she fell backwards. She hissed when Horror came up towards her and let his blade glide across her face, leaving a horizontal cut across her face.  
‘Aw, poor vampire!’ Horror grinned as he stuck his tongue out and waggled his hands behind his ears to spite her.  
‘Neh neh neh neh neh nah!’ Nightmare jeered as he did the same once he put distance between himself and Xeann. Xeann growled as she felt her energy drain quickly from enduring the demons. Her eyes glowed red for a brief moment and she closed them calmly, standing up. Nightmare jumped back and grinned with a satisfied tilt of the head when her body was suddenly engulfed in shadows. Horror stepped closer with a curious frown as Xeann’s blades turned from curved to straight. When the shadows left Xeann’s body, she was clad in black armour. She stumbled when she felt the lack of heels on her boots but kept her stance, swords pointed at the demons.  
‘Round Two,’ she said challengingly. Nightmare just grinned and rushed forward to attack her. With her limit in control, Xeann blocked and disarmed the demon without so much of a blink. She smirked confidently, one of her swords poised at Nightmare’s throat, grinned wider at his brief surprise and didn’t falter when he began laughing.  
‘The vampire has gone all serious on us now, brother!’ he shouted at Horror. Horror just laughed and ran up behind her, sword aimed to cut her arm off. Xeann turned immediately to block his attack, gasping when Nightmare took advantage of her vulnerability to kick her from behind. Horror let his sword slide up from Xeann’s sword and it hit her armour with a loud clang. Xeann pushed up from her feet, her head colliding into Horror’s chin. As Horror fell and Nightmare jumped off the platform to retrieve his sword, Xeann began making her way back up the stairs. Horror began chasing her as soon as he recovered.  
‘You can’t run forever, little birdie!’ he cooed and Xeann didn’t glance over her shoulder, only turning when she reached the next platform, clashing with Horror when he eventually caught up with her. The two of them began fighting viciously, Xeann’s teeth bared and Horror’s insane grin forever etched into his face. Xeann’s movements got swifter and faster when Horror began to cheat his victory through attempts in tripping her up and pulling her hair.   
‘Surprise, dearie!’ a sudden voice shouted from seemingly out of nowhere. It was when Nightmare unexpectedly swooped up from the hole in the middle of the platform, his large demonic dark blue wings spread out to intimidate her, that Xeann foolishly lowered her guard. Nightmare immediately saw the opportunity, swooping down to harshly ram his sword handle into her stomach. Xeann was thrown back and out of one of the many holes in the tower.  
‘Tough luck, little birdie!’ Horror shouted and the demons began laughing to spite her. Xeann snarled as she was thrown out onto an outside platform. She skidded on the icy surface, using one of her swords to dig into the ice and throw her body weight around it to shoot back into the tower.  
‘Surprise, boys!’ she shouted once she shot through, her feet colliding into Horror’s face. The surprise attack sent Horror falling down the stairs. Nightmare froze as he watched his brother fall then grinned at Xeann while shooting up to the summit of the tower. Xeann growled as she ran up the stairs to chase him, keeping in mind that Horror would soon come chasing after her. She reached a door at the end of the staircase, slamming it open and accidentally throwing it off its hinges. Her boots crunched in the snow and she nearly fell over when she remembered she wasn’t wearing high heels.  
‘Come to Horror, little birdie!’ Xeann wanted to shout in frustration when she heard Horror behind her. She turned abruptly, swords up to block Horror’s incoming attack. They began fighting again, except Xeann’s blows came harder than before. Horror felt his defence crumbling with every swing she threw at him, disarming him on the fourth blow. The edges of Xeann’s left sword began to glow blue and Xeann slashed it across Horror’s chest. To Horror’s, well horror, the blue lining around her sword was holy water. It burned into his skin, sending steam up into the air. Nightmare, who was still ascending the tower, stopped when he heard his brother scream and watched as Horror stumbled onto the ledge of the outside platform. Xeann slammed her foot into his crutch to hold him still, her face emotionless as the demon squirmed underneath her.  
‘Go back to Hell, fiend,’ she said as she held up the handle of her left sword. It opened and more holy water poured out, splashing onto Horror’s face. Horror wailed in pain and in a final attempt to hurt Xeann, he lashed his hand out. Holy water flew from his hand and some splashed onto Xeann’s cheek. Xeann kicked him off the ledge when hot white pain flared from that splash of water, stumbling back and holding her gloved hand against the burning spot of flesh. Horror roared in pain as the holy water burned his face and body like acid eating away at flesh while he fell. Xeann breathed calmly, rubbing her cheek tenderly, pulling away and seeing in the reflection of her cheek in her armoured glove. She saw the spot of skin that the holy water had touched steam and leave a burnt mark. With a grimace she turned and looked up the next staircase where Nightmare stood, a scowl on his face.  
‘You shall pay for that!’ he declared, lifting his sword and swooping down with his wings. Xeann didn’t prepare for the sudden attack and she was thrown off the platform, plummeting down into the frozen wasteland below her. She began clawing at her breastplate, pulling one off to reveal a small silver coloured button. She pressed it and turned her body so that her front was directed to the ground. Her armour whirred, clunked and clicked to let her shoulder pads fall. Large light metal wings, attached to her armour, spread out and flapped once to stop her from having a collision into the land, then again so she could safely land on the ground on her feet. She slipped when she realised that she wasn’t wearing high heels and landed harshly on her rump. Nightmare laughed loudly at her little slip-up and she glowered at him.  
‘Stupid demons,’ she muttered to herself and got back up to her feet. A wave of dizziness hit her and she grunted, falling to one knee. It was a risk to release her wings from their compartments, it took up a lot of energy. But if she could just endure another seven minutes then perhaps it would be worth it if she managed to finish off this demon. Staring up at Nightmare, using a hand to shield her face from the blizzard, she grimaced when she noticed how far up he was. She was going to have to be strong. Taking a deep breath, her wings spread out and she shot up towards Nightmare. Nightmare just laughed and she began chasing him around the tower. Xeann became a little light-headed when she followed him up the tower, swords at the ready to cut Nightmare down. Her right sword began to glow blue with holy water to smite her opponent. She didn’t expect Nightmare to suddenly turn and tackle her when they reached the very top of the tower. She landed on the flat roof, gasping when Nightmare grabbed her right sword and shook it to release the holy water. She turned and managed to only get holy water on the back of her neck. She cried out in pain while Nightmare yelped when his hands got holy water on them, dropping her sword hastily.  
‘My, my, a vampire that can use holy water,’ he commented while shaking his hands out and Xeann stood, left sword at the ready ‘That’s new.’ Xeann gasped as she felt fatigue catch up with her and swayed on the spot woozily. Nightmare grinned and she glared at him as he opened his mouth again. ‘Looks like you’re out of limit energy. Pity, I was so hoping for a more challenging fight.’ Xeann managed to smirk and stood up straight.  
‘I have one more thing up my sleeve,’ she said and gasped as she swayed again.  
‘You know,’ Nightmare ignored her ‘you’ve changed since we last met.’ Xeann froze and looked at him with a scowl.  
‘We’ve never met before,’ she said and Nightmare laughed.  
‘Oh yes we have, dearie,’ he grinned ‘I’m sure you would remember, it was about sixty five years ago…Bella?’ Xeann’s breath hitched at the name and she stared at Nightmare with wide, horror-stricken eyes. A searing pain shot through her mind as she remembered that painful memory which she had long forgotten.  
‘No…’ she whispered and snarled ‘NO!’ Despair wracked through her body as she yelled at the top of her voice. Nightmare stepped back as shadows engulfed her body and Xeann was lifted, the shadows coiling around her legs and constricting around her chest to pose as a large dress. Xeann glared down at Nightmare with a snarl. ‘Things have changed now,’ she said ‘I never stopped training ever since that day.’  
After the limit stage, with enough training, there is a final limit. The creature would be able to unlock an even more powerful power to use in their time of need. A final limit was a great risk though, as the creature will most likely experience a coma, amnesia, being paralyzed or even death. Each final limit puts pressure on the body so it will only last for a brief minute before it disappears. Nightmare whistled, impressed at Xeann’s new development.  
‘I am impressed, dearie,’ he smirked ‘Very impressed. You’ve grown up.’ Xeann stuck her hands out and dark energy began to pool in between them. She took a deep breath as the tower shook and Nightmare took off to escape. Xeann fired the large ball once she saw him fly off and saw as it hit his shoulder, sending him spiralling down to the ground. Xeann then began to feel light as the shadows melted away and she was lowered to the ground. She lay on the snow covered roof, her vision blacking out as she fell into a coma.


	22. Stiraia Village

‘CODY!’ Sheela jolted herself awake and propped herself up as Saphira’s howl echoed in her head and made her ears ring. Vienna yelped and woke up to see Saphira gone and Cody’s restraints were coiled up in the corner, Cody gone.  
‘Oh dear,’ Vienna murmured and poked her head out of the cave. Saphira was in her tame wolf form, marching up and down the path with her nose glued to the ground, sniffing out for any scents that Cody might have left behind. Vienna heard the low tones of snarling under Saphira’s breath and swallowed nervously before crawling out.  
‘He’s here somewhere, the stupid idiot,’ she heard Saphira grumbling ‘I know he’s here, he can’t have gone far…’  
‘Saphira?’  
‘What?!’ Saphira snapped at her, baring her yellow teeth. Vienna winced and stepped back warily when she smelt bad breath.  
‘How long have you been awake exactly?’ she asked and Saphira snarled in frustration and resumed her pacing.  
‘I don’t know, a minute, an hour?’ she mumbled and eventually turned human, pounding her fists into the ground when she couldn’t pick up a scent. Vienna stepped back, not sure how to handle her tantrum while Sarah yawned, finally waking up.  
‘What’s the matter?’ she asked bluntly.  
‘It was you, wasn’t it?!’ Saphira suddenly accused, pointing a bloody finger at Sarah ‘You let Cody go, didn’t you?!’ Sarah yelped as Saphira advanced towards her, bloodied fist up and ready to smash into Sarah’s face.  
‘Saphira!’ Sheela held Saphira back as the blue werewolf snarled viciously, thrashing about like a feral animal ‘Saphira, calm down!’  
‘And you!’ Saphira snapped at the elder girl ‘You didn’t bind him tight enough!’  
‘Saphira, come to your senses at once!’ Sheela shouted ‘Look at me, I’m skinnier than Sarah when she went through anorexia!’  
‘Sheela!’ Sarah whined ‘You weren’t supposed to tell anyone about that!’  
‘Shut up, Sarah!’ Sheela snarled and turned her attention back to Saphira ‘Try my bonds! My magic isn’t that strong, they’ll break easily.’  
‘You’re weak,’ Saphira snarled ‘You’re weak like everyone else! Like my mum, like my dad, like my sisters, like my uncle…’  
‘And look at Cody, he’s working for the Queen so he has benefited from that by becoming stronger and healthier than the rest of us,’ Sheela tried to continue.  
‘Shut up, I don’t want to hear your pathetic excuses!’  
‘You promised that you wouldn’t mention it to anyone!’ Sarah continued whining.  
‘Oh do stay out of this, Sarah!’  
‘It was you who let Cody go, wasn’t it? You two got close too easily, you’re working for the Queen too, aren’t you?!’ Vienna whined as she sat beside Amber, watching helplessly as the other girls argued viciously at the top of their voices.  
‘Guys…’  
‘I hate the lot of you! It’s because of you that I can’t get to Cody!’  
‘Hey, hey, I thought we were friends!’  
‘Sarah, shut up!’ Tears built up in Vienna’s eyes as she watched them, their voices growing higher and louder. They shut up immediately when she let out a howl in despair and began crying.  
‘Stop shouting!’ she wailed and covered her face ‘You’re just like mum and dad when dad is drunk! And Amber’s dying, but you guys don’t care, why are you being so mean to each other?!’ She continued wailing like a pathetic little child, holding Amber’s limp hand for some comfort. Saphira calmed down eventually and Sheela let her go, bending down to Vienna to wipe her tears away.  
‘Ssh,’ she hushed the young werewolf ‘We’re sorry, Vienna. Don’t cry.’ Vienna sniffed helplessly, trying to stop crying as Sarah’s bottom lip wobbled. Sheela hugged Vienna comfortingly. Saphira whined and nuzzled Vienna in apology when Sheela let her go.  
‘I’m sorry, it’s just that I love Cody and…’  
‘I know your story,’ Vienna snuffled pathetically ‘Just…don’t take it out on other people, we don’t deserve it.’ Sheela grimaced softly, picking up Amber and standing up.  
‘Come on, we need to sneak past the Narwhine to get down to the village,’ she announced ‘Amber looks like she’s in a worse condition now.’  
‘Narwhine?’ Saphira tilted her head with a confused frown ‘There’s no Narwhine out there…’  
‘Then what do you call that?’ Sheela asked as she nodded to the massive ice tail swing by the cave entrance. Saphira and Sarah yelped in surprise, falling over at the same time and landing harshly on their rumps.  
‘It’s back!’ Sarah exclaimed.  
‘It wasn’t there when I was out there,’ Saphira said and looked up to Sheela ‘Do you think something’s happened to Xeann?’ Sheela bit her lip thoughtfully.  
‘Well, I would say that she probably went out of the Narwhine’s territory,’ she concluded ‘And she’s right, there are signs that this Narwhine is pregnant.’  
‘Woah, hold up,’ Saphira perked at the news ‘If that thing gives birth…’  
‘It would take a matter of years for the whole planet to ice all over because of oversized Narwhines,’ Sheela nodded ‘We’re going to have to kill it.’  
‘Aw,’ Sarah pouted.  
‘Sarah, the Nightmare Blanket made it like this so we need to get rid of it,’ Sheela raised an eyebrow.  
‘But it’s so pretty,’ Sarah complained.  
‘Sarah, it tried to squash us like ants yesterday!’  
‘Yeah but I’m sure it meant no…’ Sarah was cut off by the vicious glare from her sister and swallowed. ‘OK, we need to kill it.’  
‘How do we accomplish that?’ Saphira asked with a raised eyebrow ‘Fire spells won’t do unless someone is willing to commit suicide.’  
‘Look, we’ll discuss this in the village,’ Sheela said ‘Just follow my lead.’ With those words, she ran out and slid down the slope. The girls stared in horror as their leader disappeared into the valley and looked at one another. Sarah shrugged.  
‘Geronimo!’ she cried as she shot out and followed her sister. Saphira and Vienna winced as she tripped up and ended up rolling down the slope, hearing a loud crash when she reached the bottom. ‘I’m OK!’ her voiced echoed up the blue mountain. Saphira sighed.  
‘I wonder if she’ll try to say that if she breaks her jaw,’ she commented and Vienna nodded in agreement, sniffing and rubbing her eyes slightly that were still tinged a bit red from crying. The werewolves stared at each other and shrugged.  
‘Let’s just go,’ Vienna said before the two of them linked hands and jumped at the same time. Vienna tightly squeezed Saphira’s hand fearfully as her feet slipped and slid on the gravel. Saphira gently pulled her to try to balance them.  
‘We might need to jump,’ she said.  
‘What?’  
‘Now!’ Vienna didn’t know how but she managed to spring off the soles of her feet on short notice when Saphira took off. She yelped as she landed unsteadily, feet apart when she spotted Sarah lying on the ground. With shaky legs, she let go of Saphira’s hand and landed softly on top of her back. Sarah looked up and grinned painfully.  
‘Still OK,’ she grunted. Vienna ignored her and pressed her hand against her heart, feeling it beating rapidly against her ribcage.  
‘I-I think I-I’m g-g-going to be s-sick…’ she muttered as she placed her hand over her mouth and retched.  
‘Not on me!’ Sarah suddenly sprang into action and leapt up, yelping as she fell over while Vienna fell off her. Saphira noticed the limp she had and winced when blood began soaking through her trousers.  
‘You’re injured,’ she observed and Sarah just shrugged.  
‘I’m OK,’ she smiled.  
‘Where’s Sheela?’ Saphira asked as Vienna threw up behind her.  
‘I think she headed over into that building,’ Sarah pointed to one of the snow covered houses a few feet away from them. Saphira glanced over then looked at Vienna before turning her sights back to Sarah.  
‘Well let’s go and investigate,’ she said as she grabbed Vienna’s hand and held up Sarah to drag them over to the house that Sarah had pointed to. She let go of the woozy Vienna to knock on the frozen door.  
‘Who are you and what do you want from here?’ a calm and dangerous sounding voice asked. Sarah swallowed and whimpered as Saphira cleared her throat.  
‘My friend has injured herself, we would like to know where to find some medical attention.’ The door slowly creaked open and Sarah yelped when two glowing green snake eyes bore their gaze on them. An older man stepped out warily, his long white hair tied up in a tight braid, flickering out his black snake tongue curiously while staring at each girl hungrily. He suddenly grabbed Sarah by the face and took a close look at her.  
‘Sssssame featuresssss,’ he commented and turned around ‘Isssssss thissssss your sssssissssster?’ Sheela looked up after changing Amber’s bandages and spotted the girls.  
‘Yes, they are,’ she nodded and the man flickered his tongue out once before stepping aside to let the girls come in. Sarah had to be dragged into the small house quickly after the brief hesitation. Saphira looked around in wonder at how warm the house felt. Different scents of herbs, potions and medicines wafted into her nose, making her step back slightly with a wrinkled nose.  
‘Wow, I didn’t expect such a house to be so warm in the middle of an apocalypse,’ she commented and the man smirked triumphantly.  
‘Thesssssse houssssssessss were built with my own two handssssss,’ he said proudly ‘Built for thosssssse who want to ssssssurvive the wintersssssss here.’  
‘Why is he talking so creepy like that?’ Sarah asked loudly and Saphira rolled her eyes before pushing Sarah onto the other bed. The man smirked creepily before pulling out some material that weren’t bandages.  
‘I’m a sssssnake hybrid,’ he explained and sat down beside Sarah ‘My name isssssss Sssssssiegfried.’ Sarah screamed as he began rolling up her trouser leg.  
‘Get off me!’ she shrieked and Sheela sighed tiredly.  
‘Sorry, Siegfried but Sarah’s terrified of snakes,’ she said and stood up to take the makeshift bandages away from Siegfried ‘I’ll look after her, whatever she’s done to herself, you look after Amber.’ Siegfried flickered his tongue out at Sarah to entice another scream and smirked.  
‘Of coursssssse,’ he said as he moved to settle himself next to Amber to feel her forehead. His eyes moved over to Vienna who was still shaking on her feet. ‘Isssssss ssssshe ill too?’ he asked while pointing to her.  
‘Oh no, we’ve just slid down the slope,’ Saphira said as she sat Vienna down carefully on the floor ‘I don’t think Vienna here is used to those kinds of things.’ Vienna looked considerably pale and Siegfried got onto his hands and knees to crawl to her and look at her closely. Vienna stared at him warily and he smirked.  
‘You jussssst need water then,’ he said as he got up, handing Saphira a small box ‘Ssssstart masssssshing thissssss up for Amber. I’m jussssst going outssssside to gather sssssome ssssssnow to melt for the young girl.’ Saphira blinked as he stalked outside with an empty bucket and opened the box carefully. She groaned and shut it when a repugnant smell wafted out of the box.  
‘What is that?!’ she exclaimed. Sheela looked up as she bandaged up the cut on Sarah’s leg and held out a hand so Saphira could give her the box. Sheela opened it carefully when Saphira handed it over and took a quick waft of the smell before slamming it closed.  
‘Poorly preserved dried snake’s liver,’ she said while placing it down and covering her nose and mouth ‘One of the ingredients to make a pretty potent medicine which cures a fair amount of plagues.’  
‘From my mother after ssssshe died,’ Siegfried said as he slipped back into the house silently with a bucket of snow, scaring Sarah out of her mind. Sheela stood up at the mention of a mother and gave Siegfried a stern look.  
‘You would dare turn your mother into ingredients for your medicines?’ she said in a low tone.  
‘Ssssshe would have done the sssssame if I had passsssssssed on,’ Siegfried shrugged nonchalantly ‘And consssssidering our current ssssituation, I don’t think I could afford to wasssste ssssssuch valuable ressssssourcessss.’  
‘You killed your mother!’ Sarah accused.  
‘I would do no ssssssuch thing!’ Siegfried snapped and leered over Sarah, making her cower under his shadow ‘Ssssshe died becaussssssse of the Narwhine that has been keeping Ssssssssstiraia Village in itssssssss sssshadow!’ Sarah was reduced to pitiful whimpers and soft apologetic whimpers as Siegfried glowered at her with his piercing emerald eyes. Sheela swallowed as she stood up warily and placed a hand on Siegfried’s shoulder.  
‘We’re sorry for you loss,’ she said as she picked up the box with Siegfried’s mother’s liver in ‘I’ll just go ahead and mash this up.’ Siegfried just stuck his tongue out at her before pouring the already melting snow into a small rusted cauldron above the barely lit fireplace. Sheela went over to where Siegfried had his tools laid out while Saphira sat down next to Vienna, rubbing her hands unconsciously. Amber heavily breathed in her coma, turning her head from side to side.  
‘Xeann,’ she groaned ‘Xeann…’


	23. Xeann's Nightmare

Xeann steadily opened her eyes to see that she was submerged in shadows, shadows so thick that she was unable to see her own feet. She looked around in confusion before realising that her feet had just hit solid ground. Everything cleared for a moment and Xeann saw that she was in a bedroom with grey carpets, grey wallpaper and maroon curtains drawn over the only window. The door was grey too, Xeann saw grimly. Turning around she saw a king-sized bed with a small eight year old girl lying underneath the grey duvet. She looked pale, even for a vampire. Her hair was short, black and messy.  
‘Bella?’ Xeann murmured in shock as she recognized the face.  
‘Bella!’ Xeann gasped as a ten year old girl suddenly dropped from the ceiling and landed right in front of her. Bella opened her dark red eyes groggily, spotting the older girl immediately and she smiled.  
‘Xeann…’ she croaked weakly and the adult Xeann placed a hand over her dead heart, tears welling up in her eyes.  
‘Hush now, Bella, we need to be quiet!’ child Xeann hushed and Bella giggled softly while she ran up to the bedside and sat down.  
‘What if you…’ Bella coughed harshly ‘What if you get what I’ve got…?’  
‘Don’t worry, you silly worry-wart!’ child Xeann laughed and ruffled Bella’s hair ‘I’m invincible! I’m supposed to be because I’m the eldest.’  
‘That’s not fair!’ Despite the nostalgic sadness in Xeann, the vampire smiled softly at Bella’s pout.  
‘Uncle Felix taught me a new card game!’ child Xeann declared as she pulled out a pack of cards from her pocket ‘Come on, I’ll teach you!’   
The scene faded as the girls began to laugh and Xeann soon found herself standing in her parent’s living room. She saw her younger twelve year old self sitting on the plush purple sofa, swinging her legs and pausing to admire her new buckle shoes that had a small heel on them.  
‘Xeanna, dear…’ Adult Xeann turned around to see her parents coming in. Mr Ian Murphy, a rather skinny man with hollow cheeks and his skin a deathly grey colour. Xeann scrunched her nose in disgust at the indigo pinstripe suit he wore, it was ghastly! Mrs Janet Murphy, a very glamorous woman with blusher on her plump cheeks, bright red lipstick on her lips and pearls around her neck. Xeann grimaced at the way she saw her mother’s corset too tightly clenched around her bosom underneath her plum coloured dress. She was certain that those two breasts can’t be natural.  
‘Mother, is Bella well enough to come out of quarantine yet?’ child Xeann asked as her parents approached her.  
‘Certainly not!’ Janet barked sharply, making both Xeanns wince ‘It seems that she may stay like this for a very long time.’  
‘But it’s not fair! She’s been bedridden for two years! She must go outside and enjoy some fresh air or she might never get better!’ child Xeann protested rather loudly, thumping her fists into the sofa.  
‘Xeanna, you will grow up this instant!’ Child Xeann huffed grumpily, pouting childishly and hunching her shoulders.  
‘But I miss her…’ Adult Xeann sniffed and wiped her eyes to brush away the oncoming tears. The scene faded out and soon Xeann was in Bella’s bedroom again, twelve years old and lying deathly still, sweat trailing down her face as she suffered whatever illness had taken hold of her.  
‘How cruel,’ she whispered as Bella coughed harshly, coughing up the blood that had been given to her to keep her alive. Fourteen year old Xeann landed right next to her from the hole where a loose ceiling tile was and ran up to Bella.  
‘Come on, we’re going out,’ she declared as Bella stared up at her feebly.  
‘Really?’ she rasped and Xeann nodded while picking her younger sister up and placing her on her back.  
‘Just hold on really tight,’ she said as she pulled out the rope and hook she usually brought with her to get out of the room and swung it up to the hole to get it hooked on one of the pipes.  
‘But what if someone finds out?’  
‘Trust me. I’m the eldest child, I’m invincible!’  
‘That’s not fair…’ Adult Xeann found herself smiling again as the sisters disappeared up into the rafters. The scene faded and Xeann found herself remembering the time they spent together in the summer night air. Bella loved seeing the beautiful lights from the top of their home and tried roasted marshmallows for the first time. For the first time in years, she breathed in the fresh air and Xeann swore that she was getting better the more time they spent up on the roof. Xeann had to take her back to that grim dreary room to avoid getting the cane from her father.  
‘Xeanna, we have some good news for you.’ Xeann looked up when she heard her mother’s voice on her sixteenth birthday. Xeann’s friends had all gone so it was just her, her mother, her father and the servants that cleared up the table and began tidying up the mess in the living room. With bright eager eyes, teenage Xeann clasped her hands together.  
‘Has Bella gotten better yet?’ she asked enthusiastically ‘Will she be able to come out of quarantine yet?’  
‘No, even better,’ Janet smiled and teenage Xeann’s face fell slightly, her gaze falling to the ground as she muttered that there would be nothing better than Bella finally getting better from her illness ‘You have gotten a place at Acerius’s Private Boarding School for Girls!’ Teenage Xeann’s expression went from disappointed to horrified.  
‘Boarding school?!’ she shouted, horror turning into rage ‘I’ve told you that I don’t want to go to a boarding school!’  
‘Don’t you dare argue with your mother!’ Ian snapped as he took the pipe out of his mouth.  
‘I won’t go!’ teenage Xeann declared loudly and began throwing a tantrum by screaming and flipping the whole dining table over ‘I refuse to go to a boarding school, I will not leave!’  
‘Xeanna, this is for your education!’  
‘Screw my education, I will not go to this stupid boarding school!’  
‘Now you’re just being ridiculous,’ Janet scoffed as she turned her back on her daughter ‘You know I don’t like the way those boys at the other schools look at you.’  
‘You told me that I’m going to be this lifetime’s Vampire Mother so I might as well start bearing children now!’ teenage Xeann leered at her parents, her fangs growing with her rage.  
‘You will do no such thing!’ both parents snapped at her.  
‘And what about Bella?’ teenage Xeann stupidly burst out ‘What will she think of this?!’  
‘Your sister hasn’t seen you since she caught her illness,’ Janet laughed at her eldest daughter.  
‘Why won’t you let me see her?!’ teenage Xeann screamed as she began pulling at her hair ‘She’s MY sister, not yours!’  
‘She’s OUR daughter,’ Ian stated calmly ‘Not yours.’ Teenage Xeann sniffed and began crying, running up to her bedroom, slamming a fist into every servant that got in her way. Adult Xeann gave a last glower to her parents before the scene faded out.  
‘They found out,’ she whispered with a snarl ‘They found out that I was visiting Bella and they wanted to separate us even further.’  
‘Bella!’ Xeann’s pupils dilated as she recognized the horror in that call and turned when she found herself once again in Bella’s bedroom. She froze as her sixteen year old self landed in Bella’s bedroom and saw Nightmare and Horror on either side of Bella. The two demons spotted Xeann and grinned.  
‘Look what we have here, Horror,’ Nightmare purred as he cupped Bella’s cheeks and squeezed them painfully ‘Our little petal’s sister has decided to say one last goodbye.’  
‘Who are you?!’ Adult Xeann whispered the words that teenage Xeann shouted.  
‘Oh, we’re friends,’ Horror shrugged as he sat on the bed and lay across it over Bella’s legs.  
‘Get away from her…’ the Xeanns said as teenage Xeann reached underneath her skirt to pull out her blade ‘Stay away from my sister!’  
‘Wait!’ Xeann shouted as teenage Xeann charged towards the demons, her blades lifted to cut through them. Nightmare smirked as he swung his arm and Xeann winced as it made contact with teenage Xeann’s stomach. The poor teenager was thrown across the room, going through adult Xeann who rubbed her stomach thoughtfully.  
‘Aw, she’s too easy,’ Horror pouted as teenage Xeann struggled onto her feet, her legs shaking at the sheer force Nightmare had put into that one swing. Adult Xeann turned and watched at the first time she had ever used her limit power. Shadows crawled out from under Bella’s bed and engulfed the young teenager, leaving when they had replaced her clothes with black armour. Nightmare and Horror gasped in mock wonder at the transformation.  
‘How old are you?’ Nightmare asked curiously as he stepped forward to look the teenager up and down. Teenage Xeann didn’t answer as she took up her swords, not really knowing what to do with them and charged forward to attack Nightmare. Nightmare smirked and dodged, hooking an ankle around Xeann’s and tripping her up. Xeann landed face first into the white carpet and the armour melted away. Seeing the defenceless girl with gleeful eyes, Nightmare slammed a foot on her back.  
‘Aw, the little birdie has failed in her mission,’ Horror cooed as he grabbed Bella by the hair.  
‘No, wait!’ the Xeanns said as they looked at Horror ‘Don’t take her away! That’s what you’re here for isn’t it?! Please don’t take away Bella! She’s only fourteen! Please, she’s my only sister!’ Her pleas fell to deaf ears as Horror picked Bella up, swung her over his shoulder and disappeared in a flurry of flames. She gasped as Nightmare grabbed her by the hair and hauled her up to her feet, letting her fall onto the bed. He went on top of her, running his fingers through her hair and traced her jaw line thoughtfully.  
‘Such beautiful features,’ he commented as teenage Xeann couldn’t gather enough strength to push him off ‘You’re going to be a Vampire Mother soon too, aren’t you? You’ll be a perfect host for an experiment.’  
‘Don’t you dare!’ Adult Xeann shouted and fell to her knees, hands clenched tightly on either side of her head ‘She’s only sixteen, leave her alone!’ She sobbed pathetically as Nightmare stole teenage Xeann’s first kiss and everything faded away. Xeann rocked back and forth, taking deep breaths and lay on her side, tears running down her face. ‘I didn’t have my first child when I was twenty,’ she murmured in realisation ‘I was sixteen when I was first pregnant.’ Colours came back and Xeann recognized the house that she moved into and where she still lived now.  
‘Come on,’ a light voice said from behind her ‘Come and look, this is our new home now.’ Xeann turned to see herself when she was twenty, pregnant with the second child, and a young boy with dark blue hair and mismatched eyes. The right eye was blood red while the other eye was bright blue. Xeann asked herself why she had forgotten those eyes, the eyes of her first child.  
‘Mummy, it’s so big…’ the four year old child murmured as he hugged Xeann’s leg warily. Xeann stared at the child a while longer before remembering his name.  
‘Yes, I named you…’ she started.  
‘Cedric, let’s go and get your stuff,’ her past self interrupted her as she waddled over to the back of the carriage and picked up one of the suitcases.  
‘Careful, milady,’ one of the servants said as he took it off her ‘You need to take care of yourself so you can take care of your new addition.’ Xeann tittered lightly and rubbed her baby bump thoughtfully.  
‘I suppose I should,’ she nodded and took Cedric’s hand ‘Come on, Cedric.’ Cedric hid his face from the servant and half-dragged Xeann into the mansion. Xeann watched them as the scene faded.  
‘I remember, I gave birth to him at the boarding school,’ she whispered ‘I hid him from the teachers, from my friends and had help from the matrons to raise him. Mother and Father never knew about him.’ The colours faded back slowly to form another picture and she was outside Cedric’s room. The grandfather clock struck eight and Xeann saw herself, twenty six years old now but no difference in appearance, pregnant with her ninth child.  
‘Cedric?’ she said as she knocked on his door ‘Cedric, are you awake?’ She opened the door and froze with a horrified gasp. Xeann looked over her shoulder and grimaced when there was nothing but an empty room, as if Cedric never existed. Her past self walked into the room and looked around, calling for her eldest son. A piece of paper fluttered from the ceiling and Xeann snatched it to take a look at it. She screamed and began pounding her fists into the wall near her, sobbing and cursing Nightmare loudly. As everything faded away, Xeann clenched her fists.  
‘He took him away,’ she growled lowly ‘He took my precious baby away! He took my Cedric away, how dare he! He had not right to suddenly take him away like that!’ Her sobs echoed in the emptiness as she broke down, her emotions becoming too much for her to bear.

***

Xeann stirred herself awake and blinked in confusion as she lay on cold wet metal, stark naked and a thick cloak covering her nudity. Keeping it in place to keep her warm, Xeann sat up and stared at the sun with a puzzled frown. She then looked around and saw that there were no signs of ice or snow or any sign of the Narwhine. Memories of what had happened before slowly crept into her mind and she widened her eyes.  
‘How long have I been asleep?’ she asked herself. She paused as she saw a note stuck to her body and took it off, reading it.  
‘Dear, dearie,’  
Xeann glared at the note when she recognized Nightmare’s handwriting and the way he addressed her as ‘dearie’.  
‘I’m just writing to be polite and say what a blast we had! Things did seem to go downhill when you poured your holy water all over poor Horror but I quickly took care of him. He’ll be fine, don’t worry!’  
‘Damn it,’ Xeann scrunched her fist and slammed it on the metal roof of the tower in frustration.  
‘Also, I appreciate the way you have not changed, apart from your bosom growing dramatically, you certainly know how to keep a man, or a demon, happy.’  
‘The pervert!’ Xeann scowled as she brought the cloak closer to her body for comfort.  
‘Many regards,  
Nightmare  
P.S. you look so sexy with my cloak over you.’  
Xeann stared at the cloak in horror, before shrugging and snuggling into it.  
‘‘Tis a warm and snugly cloak,’ she argued to her mental outburst of ‘Why the hell are you not throwing it away?!’ and spotted her clothes nearby. She began to get dressed and looked up in the direction of the Hyacin Mountains. After lacing her corset tight around her bust on top of the bra, pulled her bodice over it, laced that tightly, pulling her leather trousers up, strapping her utility belt on, pulling her high heel boots on and putting her cloak on, Xeann threw Nightmare’s cloak off the side of the tower and began descending the tower to head back to the girls. She could only hope that she would make it in time before anything horrible happens.


	24. Sheela VS the Narwhine

Amber’s eyes slowly cracked open and a pained groan left her lips when she felt the light of candles too bright for her to handle. She closed her eyes again and tried to move her body, feeling all the aches in her joints and the strains that tightened her muscles. She opened her eyes again to find the brightness of the candles had dimmed down and slowly pushed herself up into a seating position, blinking wearily at her surroundings.  
‘I ssssee you’re finally awake then,’ a man in his thirties suddenly appeared by her side, making her gasp, her throat was too dry to scream, in surprise. Amber stared into his snake eyes and parted her lips.  
‘Stay away,’ she croaked and began coughing harshly. The man immediately held up a steaming bowl to her face.  
‘Drink.’ Amber pushed the bowl away but he moved it closer to her. ‘Drink if you wissssssh to live.’ Amber stared at him, terrified of the way his green snake eyes stared her down, swallowing fearfully.  
‘Is that a threat?’ she croaked and the man began laughing.  
‘No, thissssssss issssssss medicine,’ he explained ‘Drink.’ Amber soon complied and began drinking the substance in the bowl, the man keeping a hold on the bowl for her. It smelt absolutely foul and the taste was too bitter for Amber to handle, that she pulled an extremely disgusted face, her tongue hanging out of her mouth. The man chuckled and Amber glared at him.  
‘Who are you?’ she asked ‘What am I doing here?’ The man flickered out his black forked tongue briefly before placing the bowl down.  
‘My name issssssss Sssssssiegfried,’ he hissed ‘Fifteen dayssssssss ago, your friendsssss brought you here ssssssso I could help you sssssssssurvive your Zzzzzenalpha Plague.’  
‘Fifteen days?!’ Amber exclaimed with wide eyes ‘I’ve been comatose for fifteen days?!’  
‘Any longer and I would have thought of you assssssss dead,’ Siegfried smirked at the cold shiver that passed Amber ‘Your friendsssss have been very busssssssssy trying to get rid of the Narwhine.’ There was an exclamation and a very loud thud outside.   
‘I’m OK!’ Amber recognized Sarah’s catchphrase. Siegfried smirked to himself.  
‘That one issssssss rather clumssssssy, it’ssssssssss very amusssssssssing,’ he said and Amber sighed tiredly.  
‘One of these days she’s going to kill herself,’ she muttered.  
‘Siegfried, we need a change of bandages for Sarah,’ Sheela said as she dragged Sarah, blood seeping through her trousers, inside. Sarah gasped as she saw Amber awake.  
‘Amber!’ she cried with a new energy and launched herself on top of her, squashing the poor girl. Siegfried hissed near her ear, his tongue ticking the inside of it and Sarah screamed, falling off the bed. Amber coughed as soon as the weight was gone and Siegfried began laughing loudly as Sarah scrambled over to the other side of the hut. Sheela placed her hands on her hips and gave a stern glare to Siegfried.  
‘Will you stop terrorizing her?’ she demanded rather loudly, ignoring the fact that Amber was out of her coma. Siegfried smirked as he patted Amber’s back soothingly to ease her coughs.  
‘It’ssssssssss fun,’ he commented and Sheela sighed grumpily before looking at Amber.  
‘Are you feeling alright, Amber?’ she asked and Amber nodded weakly.  
‘You can ussssssssse the materialssssssss in there,’ Siegfried directed Sheela to the box that Sarah was hiding behind.  
‘Thank you,’ Sheela sighed tiredly and yawned deeply ‘Please, stop bullying Sarah, she has bad nightmares already and I really don’t like dealing with her in the middle of the night.’ Siegfried just smirked and shrugged. As Sheela opened the box to sift through the clothing inside, Amber swung her legs over the bedside and got up to test her strength. She fell almost immediately and Siegfried grabbed her by the scruff to avoid her from damaging herself.  
‘You need to ressssssst ssssssssome more,’ he said as he picked up the blanket that was hanging near the fire and tucked Amber into the bed. Amber yawned resignedly, she was still feeling a bit tired. Sheela watched as Siegfried apologized for the lack of a pillow but Amber fell asleep quite quickly. She tightened the makeshift bandages around Sarah’s legs and got up.  
‘Siegfried, the Narwhine has caused an avalanche and Vienna and Saphira got trapped,’ she explained ‘Could you help me dig them out?’ Siegfried flickered his tongue out once and nodded, grabbing a worn leather jacket to pull over his bare chest. Grabbing a rusted shovel, he followed Sheela outside into the cold. Sheela grimaced as he had to walk through the snow in his bare feet and led him to the slope where a pile of snow was.  
‘Thissssss doesssssn’t sssssssseem too bad,’ Siegfried shrugged as he began climbing the pile of snow and digging. Sheela watched, rubbing her bare arms underneath her shawl as she saw the lack of clothing that Siegfried had on.  
‘You hardly wear any clothes,’ she spoke up ‘Surely you are cold if you’re a snake hybrid?’  
‘I cannot stay outssssssside for more than ten minutessssss,’ Siegfried hissed ‘I’m going to dig assssssss much assssssss I can and you can do the ressssssst.’ Sheela nodded with a small shrug and continued to watch as Siegfried shovelled the snow off Saphira, grabbing her and letting her roll down the slope. Saphira gasped as she breathed in the fresh air and coughed.  
‘Blimey…’ she rasped as Sheela bent down ‘They don’t make avalanches like they did back when I was eight…’  
‘You frequently get caught up in these kinds of things?’ Sheela said in bewilderment.  
‘Well, being a novice ice sorceress and all, yeah,’ Saphira shrugged ‘Not all spells come out right you know.’ A brief hurt look flickered across Sheela’s face and she turned away.  
‘I suppose not,’ she agreed softly. The shovel landed next to her and Siegfried jumped off.  
‘Ten minutessssss isssssss nearly over,’ was all he said before he retreated back into his hut. Sheela huffed as she picked up the shoulder and walked over to where Vienna’s lilac hair stood out.  
‘Just a minute, Vienna,’ she said before digging the shovel into the snow and began clearing a way for Vienna so she can get out. Saphira shook herself out, as Sheela stopped shovelling to bend down to grab Vienna’s shoulders. She yanked the young werewolf out and began carrying her back to Siegfried’s hut, Saphira following her and shaking the snow out of her ears. Letting the barely breathing child down, Sheela began taking Vienna’s wet clothes off and wrapping her up in a dry blanket. She glared at Siegfried who watched closely.  
‘What?’ he blinked.  
‘Look away, you pervert,’ Sheela growled and Siegfried shrugged.  
‘Nothing much to ssssssssee anyway,’ he shrugged ‘Ssssshe isssssss jussssst a child.’  
‘Yes but it’s rude to stare,’ Saphira backed Sheela up. Siegfried stuck his tongue out in a childish manner before checking Amber’s temperature and taking another look at the cuts that she had on her torso.  
‘The pusssssssss hassssssssss ceasssssssed leaking sssssssssso sssssssshe ssssssssshall recover within five dayssssssss,’ he said as he gently touched the nasty scars ‘Thesssssssse will remain on her body for the ressssssst of her life, I’m afraid.’  
‘You can’t make anything to make the scars go away at least?’ Saphira frowned and tilted her head to the side.  
‘Ssssssuch a prolonged treatment, there issssssss little I can do for her now,’ Siegfried shook his head ‘Sssssssshe will ssssssurvive assssssss long assssssss sssssssshe ressssssstsssssssss well.’  
‘It’s as good as it gets Saphira,’ Sheela said to Saphira who growled softly under her breath.  
‘She’s already got that scar on her shoulder from the sabre toothed tiger,’ Saphira muttered as she sat down next to Amber ‘What happened to that thing anyway?’  
‘Oh, it just ran off,’ Sheela shrugged ‘It’s probably gone to find a territory or attempt to find a mate. Perhaps even try to return to the Queen.’  
‘Poor thing,’ Saphira cooed as she sat in front of the fireplace to warm herself up. A loud note from the Narwhine shook the village and Siegfried hissed in displeasure, catching the jars and boxes that fell off the shelves from the soundwave.  
‘Your attemptsssssssss to get rid of the Narwhine have failed ssssssssso far!’ he snapped at Sheela as she stood ‘What’sssssss next? The longer that thing sssssssstaysssssss the more people in thissssssss village get injured or killed!’  
‘Why don’t you try fighting it?!’ Sarah challenged.  
‘He’s cold blooded, Sarah, he can’t go outside for too long,’ Sheela said as she turned away from Siegfried and began pacing up and down the hut ‘It’s not as easy as you think, Siegfried. It’s huge! Massive! We’re only micro-organisms in comparison!’  
‘I thought you were the leader,’ Siegfried hissed as he placed the jars and boxes back onto the shelves ‘You have the brainsssssss, think of sssssssssomething ssssssssmart.’  
‘Fire spells don’t even work against it!’ Sheela began raising her voice ‘All my powerful fire spells drain my energy and I just collapse if I overexert myself!’ The hut remained silent as everyone knew that they couldn’t possibly suggest using weaker fire spells because of the Nightmare Blanket. Well, all except Siegfried.  
‘You’re the leader,’ he hissed into her ear as he came up from behind ‘You need to take risssssssksssssss.’ Sheela turned sharply on her heel.  
‘If you’re suggesting I do a suicide attack then please consider the consequences,’ she muttered to him ‘If I die, who do I pass the leadership too? Sarah? Pfft, you’ve seen how she’s like.’  
‘Hey!’ Sarah interjected.  
‘Amber? Look at her, she isn’t fit enough to take on such a role!’ Siegfried flickered his eyes to Amber briefly before staring back at Sheela. ‘Saphira? She’s too young. And so is Vienna. You?’ Sheela scoffed and turned away from Siegfried. ‘I can’t trust you,’ she said before storming out. She slammed the door harshly and Siegfried scoffed, flicking his tongue out at the door.  
‘Ssssssome leader if ssssssssshe can’t even conssssssssider taking rissssssssksssssss,’ he muttered before going to the cauldron over the fireplace.

***

Sheela stormed through the blizzards that swept the village, keeping her shawl wrapped around her tightly. She eventually stopped at a sheltered place in between two huts, breathing evenly. Staring up at the large Narwhine above her, she grimaced as she thought about Siegfried’s suggestion. How dare he! She couldn’t possibly take any risks now, especially with her sister in desperate need of her guidance, her family waiting back home for her to return, her sisters to rescue from the Queen and oh so much more that she had to think about. She can’t die now! With a frustrated growl, she gripped the sides of her head to try and focus on a solution.  
‘Come on, you’re supposed to be smart,’ she scolded herself, shaking her head ‘You can figure something out…’  
‘Mother!’ Sheela winced as she heard a child’s cry. Looking up slowly, her eyes widened as she saw a young boy shaking his mother who had just collapsed. She saw the signs of the Crimset virus, little green scars on the body, on both child and mother. She steadily walked over and tried to find a pulse on the mother. It was a human, she realised in horror. Humans rarely survived the Crimset virus because it attacked the brain first ten to twelve hours after the person was infected. Humans were pathetically weak with diseases that went straight for the vital organs. It was a slow and agonising death. Sheela couldn’t tell if this poor human died, she couldn’t find a pulse, of frostbite, because of the Narwhine or because the dreaded virus finally put her out of her misery. Sheela studied the little boy and came to the conclusion that he had outlived his mother because of the werecat genes that battled the virus. He stared up with yellow cattish eyes and Sheela felt tears brimming in her eyes.  
‘You poor child,’ she sobbed, picking him up swiftly and running back to Siegfried’s hut ‘SIEGFRIED!’ Siegfried just blinked at her as Sheela stormed into the hut with the child.  
‘Back ssssssssso ssssssssssoon?’ he remarked.  
‘Just treat him!’ Sheela shouted, thrusting the child into his arms. Siegfried staggered at the sudden weight, examining the green marks on the boy’s next. He hissed sympathetically before placing the young boy on a worktop next to the fireplace. The young werecat didn’t stop staring at Sheela who was choked up. Sarah reached out to hold her hand, yelping when Sheela squeezed it tightly.  
‘Drink.’ Siegfried held up a broken mug to the boy’s lips. The werecat drank obediently, pulling away and hissing in disgust.  
‘Don’t like it,’ he whined.  
‘If you want to live, drink,’ Siegfried snapped. The werecat whined and Siegfried hissed angrily. ‘You’ll die! Drink!’  
‘Siegfried, be gentle!’ Sheela suddenly snapped as she stormed over ‘He’s just a child!’ She pushed Siegfried aside and held the mug to the boy’s lips. He stared at her and opened his lips so he could sip the bitter medicine that Siegfried had prepared. Siegfried glowered at him.  
‘Ssssssstupid kidssssss,’ he hissed distastefully to himself. The werecat coughed once he had finished the medicine and stuck his tongue out in disgust.  
‘Hey, now,’ Sheela soothed as she picked up a jar of Siegfried’s honey ‘Here’s something sweet to take the taste away.’  
‘Don’t take too much!’ Sheela glowered at Siegfried as she dipped a finger into the honey and let the boy suck it off. Siegfried raised an eyebrow. ‘You’d be sssssssssurprisssssed at how many medicinesssssssss require honey.’ Sheela rolled her eyes and put the jar of honey away.  
‘Where’s my mother?’ the boy asked and Sheela flinched. Sheela hugged the boy tightly with a soft sob. Siegfried just raised an eyebrow at her, his tongue flicking out of his mouth once.  
‘Sssssshe died, didn’t ssssshe?’ he hissed. Sheela nodded with a soft hiccup.  
‘I’m so sorry but she couldn’t make it,’ she whispered to the young boy.  
‘My mother’s dead?’ Sheela closed her eyes to avoid seeing the distraught in the boy’s eyes. She hugged the young child tightly, tears streaming down her cheek. She flinched when she recognized Siegfried’s cold and scaly hand rest upon her shoulder.  
‘That mother risssssssked her life to sssssssave her child,’ he hissed ‘Why can you not risssssssk your life to sssssssave the innocent here?’ Sheela glared at him, cradling the young boy in her arms, rocking him up and down as he began sniffling for the loss of his mother. Her gaze lingered on Sarah for a moment and she remembered the time when she had protected her sister from bullies, risking her health and safety. She shook her head. That was different, nothing too much was at risk then. What if this suicide attack that Siegfried suggested failed? It would be a waste.  
‘Sheela, ignore him,’ Saphira assured her while holding her hand ‘You don’t have to do anything that you’re not comfortable doing.’  
‘We’re in an apocalypsssssssssssse here!’ Siegfried snapped and Saphira glared at him venomously ‘You can’t jussssssst refussssssse to do ssssssssomthing becaussssssse you’re not comfortable with it!’  
‘She’s eighteen! She has a life ahead of her!’ Vienna snapped once she woke up fully.  
‘Thissssssss whole village hasssssssss many people who have a life ahead of them!’ Siegfried snapped and began arguing viciously with the werewolves.  
Sheela watched as the werecat clung onto her, sobbing into her dress. She continued petting his hair soothingly until she made eye contact with Sarah again. Gritting her teeth, she placed a soft kiss onto the boy’s forehead.  
‘Take care.’ Siegfried stopped arguing with the girls as he heard the door open and watched as Sheela turned into her pegasus form to fly up to the Narwhine. Saphira’s eyes widened.  
‘No, Sheela!’ she shouted, running out to chase after her. Sheela flew through the blizzards and into the Narwhine’s line of view. She snorted, her pearl white horn gleaming into a deep orange.  
‘Let’s dance.’  
The Narwhine let out a high pitched moan and Sheela let out a powerful fire spell from her horn, the Nightmare Blanket weakening it so it was just a small spiral of fire that hit the Narwhine’s own horn. Siegfried sighed and shook his head.  
‘Nope, sssssssssssssshe’ll jusssssssssssst let her energy run out again,’ he said with a sigh.  
Sheela grunted as the spell left a small deformation in the horn of the Narwhine. She flew away to avoid the ice shards that the Narwhine began to shoot from its form. Sheela could feel fatigue getting to her already, the attack had drained more energy than usual because of the Nightmare Blanket. Her wings strained against the cold winds that surrounded the Narwhine like a barrier. She neighed loudly and sent another spiral of fire into the Narwhine. The Narwhine flicked its heard to cut the spell off, turning swiftly to hit Sheela with its tail. Sheela yelped as the tip of the tail hit her hoof, knocking her slightly off course. She spun a few metres across the air, pausing as she realised that she had accidentally landed on top of the Narwhine to take a breather. She snorted in surprise before spotting the Narwhine’s blowhole. She looked down to see Saphira and Vienna staring up at her, Siegfried inside his hut to avoid dying from the cold. Saphira’s fists were clenched in anticipation while Vienna’s hands were laced together to make a sort of prayer. Sheela stared at the blowhole thoughtfully and sighed.  
‘It’s all I have left to use,’ she decided and muttered a quick fire spell under her breath. Saphira’s eyes widened when she saw Sheela’s body go up in flames after casting a weak fire spell. Sheela cried in pain as she dived into the Narwhine’s blowhole to go inside it and impact the most damage from inside. The Narwhine suddenly let out a pained roar, thrashing about and colliding into the mountains around it. Vienna dragged Saphira back into the hut before the avalanches could swallow them whole. The Narwhine collapsed next to the village as it lost its strength and let out a loud death rattle. The blizzard clouds parted to reveal the Nightmare Blanket’s scorching hot sun. In five quick minutes, it melted the Narwhine’s first skin, revealing the white blubber that was underneath. All the snow melted away and Siegfried poked his head out.  
‘It worked,’ he commented. Most of the villagers slowly crept out and they scurried over to the Narwhine to scavenge from it. Siegfried pulled out his dagger to cut through the blubber, planning to take some to his hut to make into medicines. He paused as he tore through the blubber and spotted a charred humanoid body resting inside after burning through the trachea. He smirked. He quickly picked Sheela up and rushed her inside his hut, Sarah screaming when she saw it.  
‘What is that?!’ she exclaimed.  
‘Your sssssssisssssster,’ Siegfried replied and Sarah gaped.  
‘What happened?!’  
‘Ssssssshe decided to take that rissssssk,’ Siegfried shrugged as he quickly mashed up the Narwhine blubber he had retrieved ‘Ssssssshe sssssssstill livesssssss, don’t worry.’ He hurriedly poured the mashed blubber into a bigger bowl and ran to and fro with ingredients until he had a thick white paste. Sitting next to Sheela, he smeared the paste over her chest first so it would sink into her heart to heal it first. He covered Sheela’s whole body with the paste, running out of paste when he had mostly done her face. By then the Narwhine was just a skeleton so there was no more blubber to make into paste. But Sheela was alive, fallen into a coma. Her naked body lay on the bed next to Amber, her hair still in the process of growing back.  
‘Why have you stopped?’ Sarah asked as she watched Sheela’s silver hair growing from her scalp.  
‘I’m out of passssssste,’ Siegfried replied ‘But sssssssshe’ll live.’  
‘What?! You can’t just leave her face like that!’ Sarah shrieked.  
‘I’m going to have to, there’sssssssss no more left and no more ingredientsssssssss to make more.’ Sarah huffed and folded her arms moodily. Siegfried placed a blanket over Sheela and stood up. Saphira and Vienna sat on either side of Sheela, holding her hands while Saphira sobbed.  
‘I thought we were going to lose you…’ she whispered and wiped her tears away.


	25. The Tower in the Sky

Amber was not happy. It had been two weeks and there was still no sign of Xeann, still no sign of Sheela waking from her coma and still no signs of the Queen! After she had fully recovered from the Zennalpha Plague, Amber often spent the day lying on top of the biggest scrap pile in the junkyard right next to Stiraia Village, staring up at the Nightmare Blanket, waiting for Xeann to come, waiting for Sheela to wake and waiting for the Queen to make an appearance. She basked in the sun, something she never liked doing but to be honest, it was a nice feeling to bathe in the sun. It wasn’t as hot as the sun back at her home. Plus exploring the junkyard was fun. There were all sorts of weaker monsters to pick and train on and she found quite some interesting gizmos to play around with. But Amber was still very unhappy. Why? Her skin was getting tanned. She had screamed and threw a tantrum when she took her top off one day and saw the difference between the skin that was exposed and the skin that was underneath the material. She hated tanning! She loved her pale skin, she didn’t want it to turn any more bronze than it was now! However, she hated staying inside Siegfried’s house, he was just too damn creepy for her to handle. There were no rafters in the huts where she could just lie and watch what was going on beneath her, it was too small and too noisy with Siegfried scaring Sarah all the time, Saphira arguing with Siegfried about scaring Sarah and Vienna whining about their arguing. Amber hated it all. It was nothing like what life was back at home.  
Amber glared at the sky as she lay in the sun, on top of the biggest scrap pile in the junkyard right next to Stiraia Village. She hummed a little tune as she closed her eyes and remembered a typical day at home. Her mother’s cooking would catch her nose’s attention from her bedroom and she would get up, get dressed and go out of her bedroom window to climb down the wall and go through the kitchen window. Her father would already be downstairs, drinking some whiskey and Jasper would wander down the stairs, disorientated. She would eat her breakfast and follow her father outside to do some training until lunchtime. She would have lunch, her father might or might not get a client but either way she would spend the afternoon humouring Jasper by taking him out to relax by the oasis or take him to the market if it was up and running or, most of the time, relax in his bedroom and play games. Her mother would call them downstairs for dinner, their father may or may not be there, depending if he got a client or not, perhaps he went out for a drink down at the pub, who knew? It was rare that he would come to dinner but there was a more likely chance of him coming in, six out of ten times with a bottle of liquor in his hand, grab their mother and take her upstairs to their bedroom. Amber and Jasper would spend the rest of the evening together, ignoring their father’s antics, they would get ready to go to bed and perhaps, if it was a clear night, they would go star gazing. Amber often read Jasper to sleep, Jasper helping her out a lot because his level of reading was much better than hers and ask how his morning had been. Jasper was a very timid boy, Amber actually had to drag him out of the house each morning before she went to train with her father to a group of local children to get him to socialise at least an hour a day.   
Amber smiled as she yawned and idly began falling asleep. Sarah had woke up screaming last night and a huge argument broke out, Amber hardly got enough sleep. The warmth of the sun encouraged her to fall into the world of slumber, even if she was on top of an uncomfortable scrap pile. Amber slept, she began to dream for the first time in six months. She dreamt that she was flying towards the Nightmare Blanket and going through it. She saw the real sky, the real sun and real clouds. It was beautiful, happy, just how the world should be. She was blown through the real currents of the real wind and saw lots of floating islands. Floating islands weren’t uncommon but the Nightmare Blanket had blocked them out of view. Seeing the floating islands made Amber smile, wishing that she could never wake up from this rare dream and that she could live here, away from any troubles and away from the Nightmare Blanket. She turned her head and saw a large tower resting on one of the floating islands. Her breath hitched when she flew towards it and through one of the windows. She saw the Queen in the middle of the room with a large crystal orb, staring deeply into it. She was dressed rather differently since the last time Amber saw her. She was clad in a white nightgown, the baby bump slightly bigger than last time, with her forest green hair out of its ponytail and falling down to the middle of her back. She was barefoot as opposed to wearing high heels. Her magenta eyes lifted and spotted her.  
‘Welcome, Amber,’ she said and Amber landed on the floor, fists raised ‘I’m sorry but this is my realm now.’ Chains shot out from the ground and snatched Amber’s wrists and ankles. Amber struggled and the Queen tittered. Amber glared at her venomously.  
‘This is enough, Florence,’ she snarled ‘Let me go and tell me where my father is!’  
‘Oh, so we’re on informal terms now,’ Florence smiled widely and clasped her hands together happily ‘That’s good, I was so hoping we were that close.’ Amber scowled and Florence laughed, running a finger over the top of the crystal orb lazily. ‘I’ve brought you here to speak with you, Amber.’  
‘About what?’ Amber narrowed her eyes warily.  
‘Oh this and that,’ Florence shrugged as she circled her orb ‘We’re only teenagers, let’s talk about boys or fashion!’  
‘No thanks…’ Amber raised an eyebrow and leaned away from Florence when she arrived next to her, swallowing when Florence laughed boisterously. Florence grinned widely, rubbing her baby bump softly.  
‘I’m seven months into pregnancy now,’ she sighed ‘Nine months is too long, I want my baby now!’  
‘Who’s the father?’ Amber asked warily and Florence shrugged.  
‘Well, that’s for me to know and you to find out,’ Florence puffed her cheeks while leaning on the crystal orb.  
‘…It’s not Cody is it?’  
‘Hell no!’ Florence began laughing ‘No, Cody’s terrified of me! He’s absolutely afraid of girls, he wouldn’t even kiss one, let alone bed me!’ Amber raised an eyebrow.  
‘What about that demon?’ Florence cocked her head to the side questioningly.  
‘Sweetie, you have to be more specific than that, I’m afraid.’  
‘The demon I saw with you by Magia Town.’ Florence opened her mouth and smirked.  
‘For a girl who struggles with riddles, you’re smart,’ she commented and Amber jerked at her chains.  
‘Excuse me, at least I’m not the teenager that’s pregnant!’ Amber snapped and Florence raised an eyebrow.  
‘I’m pregnant because I want a child,’ she said sternly and continued circling her crystal orb ‘I believe your vampire friend had her first child when she was sixteen.’  
‘Xeann was twenty when she had her first child,’ Amber sneered and Florence smirked.  
‘That just shows how well you know her,’ she sighed and ran a hand over the top of the crystal ball. Amber snarled and glared at the ground.  
‘Where’s my father, Florence?’ she finally asked ‘What have you done to him?’  
‘Why would you care about your father?’ Florence snarled as she spun her hand quicker over the top of the crystal ball ‘He was a drunk, an assassin, untrustworthy…’  
‘He was a good man!’ Amber protested ‘Don’t talk about him like you knew him!’  
‘I did know him!’ Florence snapped ‘My father was a very regular client of his until I released the Nightmare Blanket!’ Amber froze as Florence pressed her hand on top of the crystal ball firmly. ‘Our fathers were a duo of assassins. Your father would kill them in cold blood, my father would provide causes of deaths for the bodies, alibies for your father and so on. Sometimes, your father wouldn’t even kill them properly. So when my father had some live bodies, he would keep them alive so he would dissect them painfully, make them suffer. They did it for fun mostly, even when they had enough money to spare a whole city, they would continue killing, murdering, torturing and massacring…’  
‘I don’t believe you, my father killed for the good of society,’ Amber snarled. Florence lifted her hand and the mist within the crystal orb cleared. Amber watched as it revealed a cold dark room with lots of medical instruments and a cold looking slab of metal with cuffs attached to it. Two men, one with forest green hair and another with silver, dragged in a struggling woman, fastening her to the slab.  
‘So, my dear,’ the one with green hair smirked as he pulled out a scalpel ‘Let’s see what’s in this delightful body of yours.’ The woman shrieked as he bent down, scalpel by her eye.  
‘But, Ark,’ she whimpered ‘I trusted you…’  
‘As your husband trusted you before you sent me to kill him,’ Amber’s father shrugged. Amber closed her eyes and turned away as the woman’s screams sounded through the room, both men laughing spitefully at her.  
‘Stop it,’ she growled ‘Stop it, enough! That’s not my father!’  
‘To think he might have put your mother through the very same thing,’ Florence murmured as she continued watching, the metal slab flowing plentifully with blood.  
‘Stop it! Stop it!’ Amber cried as she shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.  
‘Stop it! Stop it, I beg of you!’ the woman pleaded.  
‘STOP!’ Amber began shrieking.  
‘Amber?’ Amber jolted awake, sweat trickling down her whole body. Sarah stood over her, head cocked to the side curiously. ‘Whatcha dreaming about?’ she asked with a goofy smile. Amber sat up slowly and looked around, breathing rather raggedly.  
‘It was just…a nightmare,’ she breathed in relief, placing a hand over her heart which was beating rather unevenly.  
‘Whatcha nightmaring about then?’ Sarah asked. Amber smiled softly and looked down.  
‘The Queen was in it,’ she said ‘She showed me illusions of my father…and her father torturing this woman.’  
‘Oh, that sounds gruesome,’ Sarah pulled a face ‘Don’t tell me anymore.’  
‘But I think I know where the Queen may be,’ Amber continued talking anyway ‘How high can you fly?’  
‘About the height of this mountain,’ Sarah nodded to the blue mountain that stood between them and the wasteland ‘Why?’ Amber grimaced when she saw that the Nightmare Blanket went over that mountain.  
‘You can’t reach any floating islands?’ she frowned at Sarah.  
‘Only the fully developed pegasi can,’ Sarah shrugged ‘Sheela and I are only growing up still. We can reach small mountain summits but that’s about it.’  
‘Damn,’ Amber sighed ‘My nightmare revealed that there’s a tower on one of the floating islands above the Nightmare Blanket.’  
‘Ah,’ Sarah clicked her tongue and looked up ‘Well that’s a problem.’ Amber nodded in agreement and they both stared at the Nightmare Blanket thoughtfully, watching it flash dark blue, red and purple when it dropped its illusion briefly. Amber didn’t notice Sarah teetering, neither did Sarah, and soon the poor girl was rolling down the scrap pile. Amber watched with wide eyes as she landed on a bouncy mattress and sprung over another scrap pile nearby, her landing making a lot of cluttering noises.  
‘Ouch,’ she muttered.  
‘I’m OK!’ Amber rolled her eyes as she slid down her scrap pile to look for her. She eventually found the clumsy teenager sitting in an old plane wreck, or rather dangling out of it with her foot trapped in the doorway.  
‘For an unlucky soul, you have too much luck,’ Amber raised an eyebrow. Sarah just grinned and stared at the plane wreck thoughtfully.  
‘Hey…I could fix this!’ she said, her eyes lighting up gleefully ‘Then we can see if there’s really a tower in the sky!’  
‘How…?’ Amber tilted her head as she took a good look at the plane wreck.  
‘Simple-woah!’ Amber yelped as Sarah accidentally unhinged her foot from the doorway and landed on top of her. Amber grumbled softly while Sarah sat on her, staring at the plane. ‘I’m sure a lot of junk in this yard can turn out to be useful,’ she smirked and rubbed her nose ‘I could just rummage around the scrap piles…’ She stood up and began rummaging through the scrap pile nearby, yelping as a dustbin fell and landed on her, making her fall over so that the dustbin was the right side up and her legs were kicking in the air in protest. Amber bit her lip to prevent herself from laughing.  
‘How about, Vienna, Saphira and I find the junk that you need to do the fixing?’ Amber offered as she went over to pull Sarah out of the dustbin ‘It would be a lot quicker.’  
‘Of course, that’s a great idea!’ Sarah’s muffled voice came through the dustbin. Amber pulled her out of the dustbin completely and Sarah went flying, landing on her rump.  
‘We just need to find a way to bring it down from up there,’ Amber murmured as she stared up at the plane.  
‘I can do it!’ Amber didn’t even bother trying to stop her as Sarah scrambled up to the plane wreck and tried to dislodge it from the scrap pile. She succeeded and went rolling down the scrap pile with it, out of the junkyard, crashing into one of the huts in Stiraia Village. ‘Sorry!’ Sarah grimaced sheepishly as a couple of residents came out to see what the commotion was about. Amber ran after her and began helping wheeling the plane out into the open.  
‘Amber!’ Saphira called as she and Vienna came over after hearing the collision ‘What’s going on and what are you doing to that plane?’  
‘Fixing it,’ Amber said with a shrug ‘Well, Sarah says she’s going to anyway…’  
‘Fix it?’ Vienna began laughing loudly ‘Sarah? Being able to fix something?’  
‘Hey, I can so fix this!’ Sarah smacked a hand onto the broken plane confidently and one of the wings fell off, nearly squashing the werewolves. Amber stepped away from the plane warily, hoping nothing would fall off and squash her.  
‘She needs all the help she can get,’ she murmured to the werewolves.  
‘Agreed, but why on Ethylias are we repairing this plane?’ Vienna asked.  
‘Well, I have a theory which involves us flying,’ Amber shrugged ‘It might lead us to the Queen.’  
‘What do you need help with, Sarah?’ Saphira suddenly asked and Vienna suddenly bounced on her feet, ready to be useful.  
‘Just let me examine this, if you could find some tools that would be useful,’ Sarah said as she began examining the plane’s engine.  
‘Got it!’ The werewolves ran off to the junkyard, Amber trailing behind. They all jumped when they heard a loud bang and turned around to see smoke rising from the wreck.  
‘I’m OK!’ Sarah called and Amber grimaced.  
‘I’m not sure if this is such a good idea after all,’ she muttered to herself.

***

When Sheela woke up, she had a massive headache. She couldn’t make out what was in front of her and it took her a while to realise that she was lying down. She looked around and realised that she was in Siegfried’s hut. She carefully sat up, memories blurring in her mind as she tried to remember what happened to her. She turned her head to the side and saw bright green snake-like eyes.  
‘Good morning.’ Sheela gasped and edged away, her vision coming back to her as she saw Siegfried’s face just inches away from hers.  
‘Don’t do that!’ she breathed, placing a hand on her heart and Siegfried chuckled.  
‘You’re jusssssst like your sssssssssissssster only quieter,’ he hissed with a smirk and Sheela glared at him.  
‘Speaking of which, where is Sarah?’ Sheela asked as she looked around to see that it was only them in the hut. A loud boom sounded outside, followed by the sound of several debris falling onto the village, making them both flinch.  
‘I’m OK!’ Sheela stared at the door in horror.  
‘What is she doing?’ she asked.  
‘Fixing a plane with the othersssssss,’ Siegfried replied ‘I’m not entirely ssssssssure why. They’ve been at it for two weeksssss.’ Sheela sighed as she pulled the blanket off her.  
‘I’ll go and see if I can help,’ she murmured and stared down at her body ‘Eep!’ She snatched the blanket back to cover herself up. ‘Why am I naked?!’ She gave Siegfried an accusing glare and Siegfried shrugged.  
‘Clothesssssss tend to burn off when your whole body isssssss sssssssset alight,’ he said and Sheela then remembered about the Narwhine.  
‘Did it work, did I kill it?’ she asked urgently.  
‘Yesssssss but with itsssssssss price.’ Siegfried held up a broken mirror so Sheela could see the black burnt skin that started from the top of the left side of her forehead and stopped next to her left eye. ‘I ussssed the Narwhine blubber to heal your burnsssss but alassss, I ran out. By the time I left to go and get more blubber, the sssscavengerssss of the village had taken it all. I apologissssse.’ Sheela sighed as she gently touched her burn.  
‘Don’t be, you can’t always save everything,’ she murmured ‘But what am I going to wear now? I can’t wander around naked.’  
‘I wouldn’t mind.’ Sheela glared at Siegfried and Siegfried smirked. ‘Jusssst give me a moment.’ He stood up and went over to the wardrobe that was in disrepair. He searched through the tattered and torn clothes, pulling a dusty white gown, dragging it over to put it against Sheela. ‘It could fit,’ he shrugged.  
‘A wedding dress?’ Sheela raised an eyebrow ‘You expect me to wear a wedding dress?’  
‘It’ssssss the besssst I can do I’m afraid,’ Siegfried shrugged ‘I had to usssse the other clothesssssss for bandagesssss and I didn’t want to ruin my mother’sssssss preciousssssss wedding dressssss…’  
‘It’s your mother’s?’ Sheela widened her eyes ‘Oh no, I couldn’t possibly wear this.’  
‘It’sssssss all I got, or would you like to walk around naked?’ Siegfried smirked as Sheela blushed and snatched the wedding gown out of his hands.  
‘Fine, I’ll wear it!’ she snapped ‘But turn around, don’t be a pervert.’ Siegfried shrugged as he turned around while Sheela got up and began getting into the dress. She reluctantly asked Siegfried to help her with zipping the dress up. Siegfried pushed her in front of a dusty body mirror.  
‘Why, don’t you look pretty?’ he hissed and Sheela huffed, folding her arms in a strop.  
‘Flattery gets you nowhere, snake,’ she scowled and Siegfried chuckled as he took a good look at her.  
‘It sssssseemsssss to fit,’ he nodded and stepped away ‘My mother would have been happy to sssssssee it on a younger woman.’  
‘If she was getting married to you,’ Sheela raised an eyebrow ‘Which I’m not!’ She stormed out of the hut immediately before Siegfried could tease her any further.  
‘Wait a moment!’ Sheela turned to Siegfried as he stopped by his door. ‘You forgot thisssssss.’ He held up a veil with a wide smirk and Sheela threw an ice spell at him irritably.  
‘Jerk!’ she shouted before marching off to the plane wreck. She circled it curiously before finding Sarah’s legs sticking out of the engine. ‘Sarah?’ Sarah fell out when she heard Sheela, covered in oil, and gasped when she saw her.  
‘Sheela, you’re alive!’ she cheered as she got up to her feet ‘But I can’t hug you right now…’ She chuckled, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly and Sheela sighed, smiling warmly.  
‘Look at you, how are you going to get that smelly oil out of your hair?’ she asked, placing her hands on her hips. Sarah shrugged.  
‘I don’t know, perhaps when we go back home, mum can help me,’ she said and looked Sheela up and down curiously ‘And what’s with the dress, are you getting married?’  
‘It’s the only clothes that Siegfried had apparently,’ Sheela resisted the urge to use a thunder spell on her sister ‘Anyway, why are you fixing this plane? The Queen will only catch and arrest us.’  
‘Well, that would be Plan B if Plan A doesn’t work,’ Sarah shrugged as she picked up her spanner and continued fixing the engine ‘Amber’s restless, ever since she had a nightmare with the Queen in it, she’s been pushing me to fixing this every day and eagerly bringing me the parts that I need from the junkyard.’   
‘You want to reach the Queen?’ Sheela blinked ‘I see, but what’s Plan A?’  
‘Oh, Amber has a hunch that the Queen has a tower on one of the floating islands and because we personally can’t reach the floating islands, we need to go by plane.’  
‘Sarah, have you actually fixed a plane before?’  
‘I’ve fixed a model plane before,’ Sarah looked up at her with a sheepish grin ‘But I’ve done some theory in engineering classes. Besides, how hard can it be?’ She tweaked something with the spanner and a plume of flames whooshed out of the engine, setting her hair alight. ‘EEP!!!’ Sarah cried as she dropped everything and began running around in circles in a panic, Sheela staring with wide eyes ‘I’m not OK! I’m so not OK! Help!’  
‘Hold still!’ she said as she readied her hands. Water spurted out of her palms and soaked Sarah, dousing the small flames that were burning her light pink hair. The sisters breathed a sigh of relief as Sarah held a thumbs-up to her sister.  
‘I’m OK,’ she breathed and sat down for a breather. Sheela breathed a sigh of relief, dusting her hands off.  
‘How about I help?’ she offered ‘I could be able to use a few spells to speed up the fixing process.’  
‘That would be such a great help!’ Sarah perked up ‘Thanks, sis!’  
‘Sarah!’ Saphira shouted as she, Vienna and eventually Amber came over ‘We heard you shout help.’ Seeing Sarah steaming like a roast chicken and Sheela in a wedding dress, Saphira gasped. ‘Oh Sheela, you’re awake!’ she cried and hugged her tightly.  
‘That dress is so pretty!’ Vienna cooed as she dumped the junk in her arms onto Amber’s pile of junk ‘Who are you getting married to?’   
‘For my wedding dress, I would prefer a nice ice blue colour instead of the traditional white,’ Saphira hummed as she bent down to feel the material. Sheela growled in annoyance and a thunderbolt landed in the middle of the three girls, making all three yelp, Amber falling over and dropping the junk in her arms.  
‘Anyone else who asks about the dress will get hurt!’ she snarled and folded her arms grumpily.  
‘But I didn’t say anything!’ Amber whined.  
‘Anyway, it’s all Siegfried had to offer because my clothes got burned away and he was using the other clothes for bandages,’ Sheela mumbled moodily ‘Now let’s get this plane fixed so we can find this Queen.’


	26. Take Off

It was hard work, especially when you can’t wear anything but a wedding dress, you have two young werewolves that complain about everything and your sister is such a klutz, even though she managed to get a pilot’s licence and some qualification in engineering, but somehow the girls managed to get the engine up and running again. It had been two long, sweaty, smelly and slick weeks and Sheela was exhausted. She sat down in front of the plane, breathing heavily with sweat trailing down her face.  
‘That’s my power usage of the day,’ she panted as Amber wiped her grubby hands on her shorts after handing Sarah an oily tool.   
‘And that should do it for the final touches,’ Sarah twirled the wrench in her hands happily ‘We did it! Three cheers for us!’ As she threw her hands up in the air happily, the wrench spun out of her hand and hit Vienna on the head. The werewolf flopped over backwards, exhausted and dazed, drifting off to sleep pretty quickly. Sarah chuckled nervously as Saphira yawned loudly.  
‘Well, we can test it tomorrow,’ she mumbled moodily and got up and picked Vienna up ‘Come on, Siegfried said he was going to make that disgusting mystery soup of his. I wonder what poisonous ingredient he’s put in this time.’ The girls groaned, Sheela shaking her head.  
‘Face it, guys, there’s hardly anything to eat around here,’ she explained ‘Also, I’m suspicious in where he gets the ingredients from.’ The girls hummed to themselves, Saphira grimacing.  
‘I don’t want to know,’ she said and the girls agreed with quick nods of their heads. They blundered through the night to where Siegfried’s hut was, Sarah falling over backwards when she smelt what was cooking. Vienna woke up when the horrid stench met her nose and retched.  
‘What are you putting into that thing that you call soup?’ Sarah asked as Sheela managed to catch her.  
‘It’ssssss called mysssssstery sssssssoup for a reasssssson,’ Siegfried smirked as Saphira scrunched her nose up.  
‘Ugh, that smells worse than your mother’s liver!’ she exclaimed and Amber held her nose.  
‘It smells worse than my dad’s cooking,’ she commented mostly under her breath. Siegfried hissed in annoyance, his tongue flickering out and waving at the girls in an angry manner.  
‘Philistinessssssss,’ he hissed and began spooning the questionably grey soup into bowls, some of them cracked and some of them not, and handed them to the girls. Vienna turned into her tame wolf form in the hopes that she might find the soup more appetizing, but alas it didn’t work. She didn’t sniff it, just stared down at it, not really feeling too keen to try it. Amber dipped a finger in and yelped when the hot soup burned her, pulling it out. She licked it experimentally and stuck her tongue out in disgust. Saphira put a distant between her and the soup, waiting until she was really starving to eat it. Sarah refused to accept her bowl and only took it from Siegfried when Siegfried threatened to force feed it to her while hissing down her neck. Sheela stared down at her soup, biting her lip anxiously. How was she going to swallow this down this time around?  
‘This is so foul,’ Saphira grumbled ‘Even my dad wouldn’t eat this and he’s the bottomless pit in our household.’  
‘I apolgisssse that it’sssssss not five sssssstar quality,’ Siegfried hissed irritably ‘Resssssourcessssssss aren’t very easssssssssy to get to nowadayssssssssss.’  
‘Did you cook this bad before the Nightmare Blanket?’ Amber asked curiously. Siegfried scowled at her and she held her hands up when she met with his angry glare. Siegfried let his gaze go over to Sheela who dipped her spoon into the suspicious looking substance and slowly brought it to her lips. She froze when she caught Siegfried’s scrutinizing gaze and gave a nervous smile. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and stuck the spoon in her mouth. Sheela would blacked out from the horrid textures and repulsive tastes that invaded her mouth and swallowed quickly. Opening her eyes, she gave a weak smile.  
‘Did you add…carrots?’ she croaked. Siegfried perked up.  
‘Why yessssss, I did,’ he said.  
‘How old were they?’ Vienna raised an eyebrow. Siegfried hissed angrily and Sheela coughed, placing a hand on her throat.  
‘Mandrake too?’ she asked with wide eyes.  
‘Of coursssssse,’ Siegfried still had a small scowl on his face.  
‘Sarah’s allergic to mandrake,’ Sheela explained when Sarah jumped to her feet and backed away from her soup.  
‘Sssssuch a pity,’ Siegfried shrugged ‘You can have her sssssssssshare while ssssssssshe ssssssstarvessssssss.’  
‘Oh please make something for her, she’s going to be attempting to fly a plane tomorrow and she needs the energy,’ Sheela enlightened him with a pleading pout and Siegfried sighed.  
‘When I finisssh,’ he smiled and continued eating his soup while the girls slowly ate theirs.

***

Amber, Vienna and Saphira sat nervously on the old and worn passenger seats as they heard the arguing between both Sheela and Sarah as they tried to work the plane’s controls in the cockpit. It was a rather small passenger plane, it could hold up to sixteen people at most. They hadn’t exactly been focusing on the comfort part of the flight, more of the technical stuff to see whether it would be safe yet. Vienna yelped when there was a loud spluttering after Sarah hit something.  
‘And we’re in business!’ Sarah cheered as the plane began moving.  
‘Sarah, hold the steering wheel!’ Sheela shrieked.  
‘Whoops!’ Amber yelped as she fell over backwards and rolled to the back of the plane when it jolted. Vienna clung onto the seat in front of her, her nails digging into it and tearing the material so the stuffing fell out as Saphira gripped the arm rests of her seat. Amber’s stomach lurched when the plane steadily ascended into the air and Sarah cheered at the top of her voice. Vienna placed a hand over her mouth.  
‘I get airsick,’ she muttered and buried her face into the seat in front of her ‘I should have said so before…’  
‘Uck, no sick bags,’ Saphira grimaced as she looked around. Amber didn’t feel so fine either, she had never flown before. Unless you count the time when an Outlandish Vulture picked her up. Siegfried’s mystery soup was bubbling in her stomach and Amber felt like it was going to come out and spill it all over the floor. The girls screamed in fright as the plane went vertical, Sheela falling out of the cockpit.  
‘For goodness sake, Sarah!’ she screamed as she clung onto one of the chairs ‘Fly this plane properly!’  
‘I am flying it properly, I’m the one with a pilot’s license!’ Sarah called from the cockpit.  
‘I’m going to be sick!’ Vienna wailed. Amber didn’t dare announce that she might get sick too in case the vomit would actually come out when she spoke. Saphira clung onto her seat, quivering in fear.  
‘Where are we going anyway, Amber?!’ Sarah called down the plane at Amber. Amber still refused to talk, feeling more nauseated than before so Saphira helpfully shouted back for her.  
‘She said that her nightmare took her above the Nightmare Blanket so just penetrate it and fly a bit more horizontal please!’  
‘OK!’ Sarah winked from her place ‘Ladies, we might hit air turbulence so please fasten your seatbelts!’  
‘There are no seatbelts!’ Sheela shouted. There was a loud boom and the plane jolted. Everything around Amber was spinning rapidly and the poor girl was feeling even more nauseous before and everyone’s screams were just blurring into a noise, she couldn’t make out who was who or who was saying what. Her head spun, she felt dizzy until suddenly the bile rose in her throat…

***

Xeann paused as she came around on the mountain when she saw a small battered plane shoot straight up and hit the Nightmare Blanket with a loud bang. She raised an eyebrow.  
‘Well that isn’t something you see every day,’ she commented and began descending down the mountain to Stiraia Village ‘Especially now since flying has been banned.’ She landed by the village and began wandering, looking for any signs of the girls. She knocked on the first door.   
‘Just a minute!’ It opened to reveal an old woman but Xeann snarled viciously in disgust when her instincts alerted her that she was a werewolf. She shook her head, covering her mouth.  
‘I do beg your pardon,’ she apologized as the old woman recognized her to be a vampire and snarled softly ‘Have you seen a group of girls anywhere? There should be around about five of them and they are under the age of eighteen and there are two werewolves with them…’  
‘If you mean the girls that have been fighting the Narwhine and fixing the plane, I suppose you can go to Siegfried’s hut over there,’ the old werewolf pointed a shaky finger to the hut opposite hers.   
‘Thank you kindly,’ Xeann nodded curtly and walked over to the hut, knocking gently.  
‘It’sssssss open, come in.’ Xeann gently pushed the door open to see a man in his thirties organising his medicine ingredients. He stood up straight when he saw her, flickering his tongue out curiously to taste her scent. ‘Can I help you?’ he offered.  
‘Have you treated a girl with Zennalpha Plague recently?’ she asked and the man nodded.  
‘Her name isssssss Amber, do you know her?’ he asked.  
‘I have been travelling her recently, yes,’ Xeann nodded.  
‘Recently?’ the man raised an eyebrow ‘Sssssssshe’sssssss been bedridden for fifteen dayssssssss and hassssssn’t left thissssss village for over a month.’  
‘Wait, over a month?!’ Xeann exclaimed with wide eyes ‘I’ve been in a coma for over a month?!’ The man chuckled.  
‘You react jussssst like her,’ he commented ‘You mussssssst be thissssss vampire woman that ssssshe talked about regularly.’  
‘Where is Amber now?’ Xeann demanded ‘Where are any of the other girls?’  
‘I believe they were going to sssssssssee if the plane they were fixing could fly today,’ the man hummed thoughtfully.  
‘They are flying a plane?’ The memory of seeing that small plane colliding into the Nightmare Blanket flashed in Xeann’s mind. ‘Oh dear, I think I’ve just missed them.’

***

‘Amber?’ Amber didn’t feel so good. There was a vile taste lingering in her mouth and her stomach was just feeling awful. She slowly opened her eyes to see Sheela’s face and groaned.  
‘What happened?’ she asked groggily.  
‘You fainted,’ Sheela explained and pulled Amber up into a sitting up position ‘Here.’ She wiped away something off Amber’s chin and helped her up to her feet. Amber looked down to see puddles of grey vomit by her feet. There were more grey puddles around Vienna’s place but the werewolf seemed to be in better condition. Saphira was staring out of the window, her blue eyes rather wide.  
‘It’s the real sky,’ she whispered ‘We’re actually above the Nightmare Blanket…’ Amber turned her head to the nearest window and widened her eyes when she saw the bright blue sky with the sun shining on the Nightmare Blanket that was red with purple lightning streaks through it. It flashed brightly every so now and then like lightning. Sheela left the girls to check on Sarah.  
‘Well, you actually managed to get us above the Nightmare Blanket,’ she said while sitting in the co-pilot seat ‘I congratulate you.’  
‘Told you that you didn’t have to worry about anything,’ Sarah winked at her.  
‘I was worrying since the moment you touched the controls,’ Sheela murmured as she looked ahead and held her breath ‘Wow…I never thought I’d be so close to the flying islands without our parents.’  
‘Well, believe it, sister, we’re here,’ Sarah grinned. Sheela smiled back but it faded quickly when a small red light lit up and a small siren went off.  
‘Sarah, what is that?’ she asked warily. Sarah stared at the light for a few seconds and chuckled.  
‘I forgot to check how much fuel we had in this plane,’ she chuckled ‘This was originally going to be a test fly anyway…’  
‘So what does this mean?’ Sheela asked as she began to feel very, very nervous.  
‘We’ll be landing immediately but it’ll be a crash landing,’ Sarah grinned with a nervous chuckle.  
‘You idiot,’ Sheela muttered. The engines spluttered and Sheela curled up into a ball on her seat to get into a bracing position for crashing. Vienna and Saphira yelped as the plane jolted, Amber’s heart leapt when they began losing altitude fast. Sheela lifted her head when they crashed shortly after. Sarah breathed out and Vienna retched, throwing up again.  
‘We’re here!’ she called down to the three unwell girls. Sheela stuck her head out of the shattered windscreen and raised an eyebrow.  
‘For someone as clumsy as you, you certainly provide us with misfortune and luck,’ she commented dryly while staring up at the tower in front of them. Sarah stuck her head out of the other windscreen and grinned.  
‘I try,’ she said as the girls climbed out, dusting themselves down and getting ready to enter the tower.


	27. The Ascent

‘Well it was pretty easy to get in,’ Sarah commented cheerfully as the girls entered the ground floor room and began climbing the stairs in front of them ‘I think getting to this Queen will be as easy as pie!’  
‘Of course, she wants it to look easy to get our hopes up,’ Amber raised an eyebrow at her.  
‘Oh she does, does she?’ Sarah put her determined face on ‘Well, we will storm this tower, with or without deceitful hope!’  
‘I think the air is too thin for you up here,’ Sheela sighed as Sarah jogged up the stairs at a faster pace. Amber watched Sarah and began jogging after her. Vienna joined in when she saw Amber run. Saphira followed Vienna when she saw her go. Sheela kept climbing at a leisurely pace, not really willing to waste any energy. Really, everyone was so restless around her. When she reached the top of the staircase, she spotted that they had reached a dead end. There was a window of a water tank next to them. Inside was a grotesque merman, circling the water tank moodily, armed with a rusted trident. Sarah swallowed nervously as his yellow eyes saw them. He bared his yellow overgrown fangs at them and Sarah squirmed, hiding behind her sister.  
‘He doesn’t look friendly,’ she commented as Sheela narrowed her eyes.  
‘Yeah, he looks cursed,’ Saphira observed.  
‘Aw, the poor thing!’ Vienna cooed and pouted.  
‘Wait, look what he’s circling around.’ Sheela pointed to the large round white switch in the centre where the merman was circling. There was a cord nearby and Sheela bent down to look up, seeing a large block of stone suspended over the tank. ‘I suppose we use that to click the switch.’   
‘But how do we get in there?’ Saphira asked with a raised eyebrow ‘I don’t see how we could get in…!’ Vienna yelped when a hole appeared under Saphira, sending the poor girl falling down.  
‘Saphira!’ The hole closed up and a hole opened up on one of the walls of the tank, sending Saphira into the tank. Saphira blinked through the water blearily and swum upward immediately when she saw the dark blur of the merman rush towards her. She jumped out of the water to take a sharp breath of air and form a quick bubble charm around her head to breathe and have a good or decent line of vision underwater. The bubble was somewhat cracked and blurry but she had a better view when she was underwater. As she landed back into the water, she swerved immediately to avoid getting speared by the rusted trident that was thrown at her. Sarah cheered as Saphira began darting around the tank, feeling a bit disorientated.  
‘Go, Saphira! You can do it! We believe in you!’ she cheered and Sheela just pinched the bridge of her nose irritably. Saphira found her way to the cord eventually and tugged down on it hard. The block of stone came crashing down and nearly squashed the merman when it clicked the switch down. A doorway opened before the girls and Amber tilted her head.  
‘Well that was easier than I thought,’ she commented ‘But how do we get Saphira out?’ The girls stared at the tank for a little longer while Saphira began wrestling the mutated merman.  
‘She can handle herself,’ Sheela decided ‘Come on, before the doorway closes.’ Amber took Vienna by the hand and dragged her away from the window so they could ascend the next flight of stairs. They arrived in a dark room with black walls and white lines decorating it. Golden music notes appeared on the wall in front of them and Amber tilted her head to the side with a confused frown.  
‘What are they?’ she asked.  
‘Music notes,’ Sheela replied as words were written underneath them ‘They tell the reader what note to sing to make music.’ The girls remained silent as they read the lyrics. Amber just squinted, trying to make some sense of the words and failing miserably so she gave up, folding her arms moodily.  
‘Nya, nya, nya!’ Sarah suddenly belted out of tune making Vienna yelp and plug her ears ‘I want to climb! I want to pounce! I want to change my body into that of a cat’s! I will eat as many fish as I want and no-one will stop me when I go out to enjoy the beautiful nature! Oh, yes, I want to be free and purr loudly like a motor! I don’t want to be a dog or rabbit or rat! All I want is to be a cat!’   
‘Please don’t do that again,’ Sheela sighed as she pulled her fingers out of her ears ‘You really can’t sing.’  
‘But I enjoy singing,’ Sarah whined with a pout as Amber continued having her ears plugged.  
‘What kind of song is that?’ Vienna asked while staring at the lyrics ‘It sounds like some children’s song…’  
‘I don’t think it even qualifies to be a children’s song, I can’t imagine children singing about wanting to turn into a cat,’ Sheela sighed as she ran a sweaty hand through her long messy silver hair ‘I’m really sorry, Sarah, but you sung it out of tune so I’ll do this by myself.’  
‘Let’s do a duet!’ Sarah suddenly decided.  
‘No!’ Sarah was suddenly tackled by Vienna and Amber, Amber stuffing her hand into Sarah’s mouth to prevent any sounds. Sheela cleared her throat as Sarah thrashed about with the younger girls and looked up at the lyrics. She took a deep breath to prepare her voice and opened her mouth to begin singing.  
‘Nya, nya, nya,’ she sung while following the notes ‘I want to climb, I want to pounce. I want to change my body into that of a cat’s. I will eat as many fish as I want and no-one will stop me when I go out to enjoy the beautiful nature. Oh, yes, I want to be free and purr loudly like a motor. I don’t want to be a dog or rabbit or rat. All I want is to be a cat.’ Everyone went still and silent, staring at the golden strip of music. Nothing happened and Sheela frowned, placing her hands on her hips. ‘What’s the matter? I sung it perfectly in tune.’  
‘Maybe you missed a note,’ Vienna commented and began singing. Sarah let out a muffled protest and attempted to sing around Amber’s hand when Sheela argued against Vienna and began singing at a different pitch to her. Amber wanted to plug her ears but she didn’t want Sarah joining in. So she just closed her eyes and endured the singing. Suddenly the room shook and the girls stopped singing, Vienna falling over. The room stopped shaking and the girls just stared at each other. Sheela then gave an accusing look to Sarah who shrugged hopelessly, Amber’s hand still wedged in her mouth. Sheela hummed thoughtfully and sat back.  
‘If it wasn’t Sarah then I think we might have triggered something,’ she said with a shrug.  
‘Perhaps you need more than one voice?’ Amber suggested.  
‘Or this room wants a harmony,’ Vienna said as she saw two more lines of music write themselves on the wall in front of them.  
‘Well it could have said that before,’ Sheela huffed grumpily with her hands on her hips ‘But to make a complete harmony we need three voices…’ Vienna looked at Sheela. Sheela looked at Vienna. Sheela and Vienna looked at Sarah and Amber. Sarah and Amber tilted their heads to the side questioningly.  
‘Well Amber can’t read music,’ Vienna saw one flaw.  
‘And Sarah can’t sing,’ Sheela saw the other flaw. Sarah let out a muffled protest with a frown as she struggled against Amber again. Amber sighed tiredly as she continued to wrestle Sarah to the floor.  
‘If only Xeann was here,’ she muttered sulkily.  
‘Don’t worry, you don’t have to read the music, I’ll teach you the part you have to sing,’ Sheela suggested.  
‘No, that will take too long and I want to reach the top as soon as possible!’ Vienna whined and Sheela sighed.  
‘Amber, try to mimic us and Sarah…you can try to sing in case you hit the right notes.’ Sarah cheered while Vienna and Amber groaned, plugging their ears in anticipation of Sarah’s singing. Amber tried to sing but she kept on forgetting the words so had to keep unplugging her ears to hear the song once and then plug them again to continue singing. It took them about twenty times or more, no-one was really keeping count but the room shook again and began shaking at a steady pace, a small rumbling coming from behind the music on the wall. The wall parted to show stairs and Amber took a deep breath, tired from singing over and over again.   
‘Sarah you can stop that infernal singing now!’ Vienna snapped as Sarah continued singing out of tune even when the room had stopped shaking. Sarah closed her mouth obediently and cheered once she saw that the wall had parted and the staircase was available to them.  
‘Let’s get going!’ she cheered, grabbed Amber and shot up the stairs. Sheela hitched the wedding dress up with a sigh as she and Vienna followed them. Sarah eventually ran out of breath and let go of Amber, sitting down on a step to regain her breath. Amber raised an eyebrow.  
‘Out of breath already?’ she said as Sheela and Vienna caught up ‘I lasted longer than you.’  
‘There are too many stairs!’ Sarah whined and yawned tiredly.  
‘Well I suppose you’re out of breath from all the…singing you’ve just done,’ Sheela suggested as she sat down too. Amber and Vienna sat on the stairs with them, catching their breath.  
‘How far up to you reckon we are?’ Vienna asked Amber who shrugged.  
‘I can safely say that we’re further up than when we left you,’ she said as she looked up the staircase ‘I left Xeann a little bit further then reached the top somehow.’ She heaved a heavy sigh and rested her elbows on her legs with a sad face whilst she remembered Xeann’s smiling face. ‘It’s been over a month and she isn’t back yet. I’m worried about what might have happened to her.’  
‘I suppose the worst really did happen to her,’ Vienna leaned against the wall with a soft sigh ‘I can’t imagine that she could possibly be knocked off like that, she’s too stubborn to get killed so easily.’  
‘She did tell us to expect the worst if she didn’t come back within a week,’ Sheela shrugged and sighed. Sarah suddenly started wailing.  
‘Poor Xeann!’ she cried ‘She was a good friend! She was scary but she was a powerful ally that would have helped us to the very day she died.’  
‘Technically she’s already dead, she’s a vampire,’ Sheela corrected her and sighed mournfully. Amber began circling the stair thoughtfully with her finger and sighed, leaning her head back against the metal wall behind her.  
‘I hope she really isn’t…you know, gone,’ she said and Vienna scoffed.  
‘Please, this is my nan we’re talking about,’ she said ‘The only thing that can stop her is silver poisoning and even she managed to live through that!’  
‘Statistics suggest that vampires won’t be able to survive silver poisoning a second time,’ Sheela said grimly and Sarah wailed more.  
‘We should build a memorial once we get out of this tower!’ she declared ‘To our beloved Xeann who died of silver poisoning whilst trying to save the world!’  
‘I’m not suggesting that she actually has been killed by silver,’ Sheela raised an eyebrow at her younger sister ‘Anything could have killed her, from holy water to a stake into the heart.’  
‘Holy water’s nasty, it burns and leaves nasty scars,’ Vienna hissed at the mention of it, her eyes flashing red then hissed in pain ‘Gah, need blood. Sorry guys, I don’t have to feed that much but when I need a feed, I need a feed.’ Sheela held her arm out to Vienna but Vienna shook her head, pushing the pale looking arm away. ‘I can’t, you won’t be able to hydrate very well from the lack of water here and you drain easily anyway.’ Sheela yelped when something hit her head and landed on her lap. Amber stared at the bottle of water and growled.  
‘She’s watching us,’ she said as Sheela rubbed her head and stared at it in bewilderment ‘And as her ‘guests’ she wants us to be in top condition when we reach the top of the tower. Or rather, she wants at least me to make it to the top of the tower.’ Vienna gave the bottle of water a suspicious look but the smell of Sheela’s blood throbbing underneath her pale skin eventually became too much for her to handle so she leaned forward and sunk her fangs into Sheela’s arm. Sheela winced painfully as Vienna drank a few gulps and pulled away, licking the bite mark to heal it. Sheela took the water bottle and began drinking to hydrate herself again. It seemed pretty normal and tasted pretty normal so she drank as much as she needed. After half of the water bottle was gone when she passed it to the other girls who took a sip each. Eventually the water bottle was empty and Sheela placed it on the step that she was sitting on.  
‘For a young teenage pregnant Queen who’s taken over the world with two demons and made everyone’s lives a misery, she’s rather generous,’ she commented with a raised eyebrow.  
‘Yes, I do try to be a good Queen.’ Sarah screamed while Vienna yelped at the sudden sound of a strange voice. Amber looked up and glowered at the ceiling.  
‘If you want to be a good Queen then you would get rid of the Nightmare Blanket,’ she retorted. Florence simpered delicately.   
‘I’m afraid I can’t do that, Amber,’ she said simply.  
‘Where are my parents?!’ Vienna growled at her.  
‘My, my, someone’s snappy today,’ Florence commented ‘Have you started your period yet, dear?’  
‘None of your business,’ Vienna said moodily and folded her arms huffily.   
‘You have our sisters, Your Majesty,’ Sheela growled to Florence’s voice ‘Release them at once or I will come up there and force you!’ Florence laughed more boisterously than last time.  
‘Release them? Oh dear, Sheela, is that what you think happened to them? You really think I kidnapped them? My, my, you really ought to get to know your siblings a bit better, no matter how many you have.’  
‘They would never go to you by their own will!’ Sheela snarled as she stood up while glaring icily at the ceiling ‘Iris may be a handful and a bit of a rebel when it comes to rules but she works for no-one! As for Cecilia, she would definitely be against you and your views on how to rule the world!’  
‘Oh and by the way,’ Florence continued as if she hadn’t heard Sheela ‘that is a lovely wedding dress you have there, getting married soon?’  
‘No!’ Sheela screeched and took in a deep breath ‘Ladies, we are continuing this ascent!’ The girls nodded and continued running upstairs while Florence’s laughter echoed along the stone walls. Only Amber paused when she heard a small pained grunt at the end and frowned.  
‘That was different,’ she muttered while following the others.


	28. The One Hundred Human Weapons

‘There are too many stairs!’ Sarah whined as she began to fall back from the group ‘When are we going to reach the top?’  
‘Soon,’ Amber reassured her as she paused to regain her own breath ‘But they’re going to be a lot of obstacles in our way so you’re going to need a lot of stamina. You never know what she’s put in the higher levels of this forsaken tower.’  
‘Aw, man!’ Sarah took a deep breath and continued ascending the staircase ‘This tower is bloody too tall! Who would design such a place anyway? When I find them, I’ll kill them.’   
‘The Queen herself or her demons?’ Amber suggested ‘I don’t think you’ll be able to kill them though.’  
‘Oh, I suppose…’ Sheela kept on pausing, leaning against the wall to regain her breath.  
‘If the dress is too heavy then rip the underskirt off to lose some weight,’ Vienna suggested as she caught up to her.  
‘No, I don’t want to ruin something so close to Siegfried,’ Sheela shook her head ‘It’s his deceased mother’s wedding dress after all. I shouldn’t ruin something that close to him.’  
‘You don’t have a crush on the weirdo, do you?’ Vienna raised an unimpressed eyebrow.  
‘Of course not!’ Sheela snapped ‘It’ll be rude. And besides, it’s a pretty dress, I don’t want to ruin it.’  
‘Now is not the time to fuss about dresses!’ Amber called down from her place on the staircase ‘I had to give up my food to a bull minotaur and I didn’t complain about that!’ Sheela took a deep breath and continued ascending with Vienna.  
‘These stairs just go on and on and round and round,’ Sarah panted as she sat on one step ‘How long have we been climbing?’  
‘I don’t time these things,’ Amber said crudely ‘Besides, I see the entrance to the next floor.’  
‘Hooray!’ As soon as all the girls had reached the next barely lit floor, the staircase entrance slammed shut after them, making Sarah yelp sharply at the sudden sound. Sheela turned to look at it and crouched down, her hand glowing as she examined the spot where they had come from.  
‘Automatic lock trapdoor,’ she muttered mostly to herself and sighed, standing up and glaring at it ‘I believe it will remain shut until the previous obstacle is conquered again. I suppose we can’t go back now.’  
‘Aw, but Saphira can’t catch up with us that way unless she has two other people!’ Sarah protested and stomped her foot in a foul mood ‘Why does this Queen have to be so mean? It’s just not fair!’  
‘Sometimes we need to leave people behind in situations like these,’ Amber rolled her eyes ‘I had to leave Xeann behind and I still had to tackle a whole labyrinth full of minotaurs and riddles that I didn’t even understand and don’t forget that sabre tooth tiger that nearly had me for his lunch.’   
‘Why did Nan had to let you go ahead on your own?’ Vienna asked as Sheela tried an illuminating spell to see what the next obstacle was ‘It seems a bit unfair to make you go through all that on your own.’  
‘Oh, she had to fight a Titanoboa while I had to go ahead,’ Amber shrugged ‘Big snake of about thirty feet I would say. Plus Xeann gave me some encouragement to make me feel positive. I’m afraid to say it didn’t really work.’  
‘Crikey,’ Vienna said as she stared ahead with wide eyes ‘Thirty feet long? Blimey, that’s just about the size of…!’ A loud clanking sound abruptly stopped her train of thought. The torches along the stone walls suddenly lit up to give the girls better light and Sarah screamed as a humanoid creature stood in the middle of the room, head down. Sheela stumbled back with wide eyes, her hand on her heart as Vienna and Amber froze when they realised how scary this thing was. Sheela dragged them back to the wall where Sarah had her back flat against it. Sheela’s hand shot out to cover Sarah’s mouth to stop her from screaming again.  
‘Don’t make any sudden movements or sounds or she will attack us,’ she breathed as the figure swayed on the spot ‘If she sees us, we’re going to get killed rather brutally.’ Sarah was breathing rather raggedly in shock and nodded fearfully, indicating to Sheela that she was feeling a bit better after the shock. Amber felt her breath quicken as she stared at the figure in horror.  
‘What is it?’ she asked quietly, keeping her breathing steady ‘It certainly doesn’t look friendly.’  
‘It’s a Human Weapon,’ Sheela murmured ‘No. LX, the Diamond Bruiser. She belongs in the Forbidden and Unknown Category. The Queen sure has her contacts.’  
‘How do you know that this is the Diamond Bruiser?’ Sarah asked while looking over to her sister, shaking like a leaf.  
‘She has LX embedded into her bicep,’ Sheela nodded to the silver LX tattooed into the Human Weapon’s left bicep ‘I know a few of the Human Weapons in the world, the scientists that had made them sent out information to civilians during the time we were in conflict with Aurallion so we could steer clear of them, and I believe the Diamond Bruiser is one of the deadliest.’   
‘Why is that?’ Vienna asked while staring at the Diamond Bruiser’s physique ‘It doesn’t look so bad.’  
‘Take a good look at her knuckles.’ Amber took one good look at the Diamond Bruiser’s knuckles and held her breath when she saw diamonds sparkle in the place of the knuckles.  
‘I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of her punches,’ she said with a harsh swallow.  
‘You wouldn’t want to give her punches either,’ Sheela said ‘They replaced her skin and hair with thick wired mesh.’  
‘Oh my God, why would someone want that done to them?! That is like so horrible, that’s just, eww…’ Sarah exclaimed and went quiet as she was hushed by the other three girls. The Diamond Bruiser suddenly stopped swaying and stood straight. The girls’ eyes widened as her long braid, made out of wired mesh too, that had been coiled on the floor rise above her head like a scorpion’s tail, the diamond tip sparkling in the dim light. The Diamond Bruiser widened her stance and braced her fists, ready to fight, her diamond knuckles glistening ominously. The girls flattened themselves even more against the wall, afraid to go forward to try to fight her.  
‘Just keep calm,’ Sheela bit out slowly to the other girls as she kept her eyes on the Diamond Bruiser ‘No-one can ever survive a fight against a Human Weapon. They were made to fight and win wars.’  
‘What exactly do you mean when you called it a Human Weapon?’ Amber asked quietly.  
‘She was once a human before she became the Diamond Bruiser.’  
‘The poor thing,’ Vienna cooed quietly and crouched down when the Diamond Bruiser snapped her masked head in her direction ‘It must be in a lot of pain if she has all the wired mesh on her body.’  
‘The scientists that made the Human Weapons only took volunteers,’ Sheela breathed as her heart began beating faster and she placed a hand over it in an attempt to calm it ‘So really, don’t feel so sorry for her. She or he and the other ninety-nine Human Weapons knew what they were getting into.’   
‘Or he?’ Amber looked up at Sheela with a frown.  
‘Yeah, they have changed genders while making Human Weapons.’  
‘Eww!’  
‘Sarah!’ the girls shouted at Sarah and Sarah placed her hand over her mouth when she realised how loud that had been. The girls split ways when the braid suddenly lashed out as the Diamond Bruiser charged at them. The diamond tip got embedded into the stone wall that had been behind them and the Diamond Bruiser began thrashing about violently to try and dislodged herself. The girls ran to the other side of the room, pressing themselves against the wall again.  
‘Is there any way to beat her?’ Vienna asked.  
‘There is a way to shut her down,’ Sheela said as she caught her breath ‘And that’s by saying her real name.’  
‘What’s her real name then?’ Amber asked.  
‘I don’t know! They didn’t release that much information on the Human Weapons! They kept the real names secret so they wouldn’t be stolen!’  
‘Well clearly this one got stolen, how did she know about this one?’ Sarah asked as she kept a close eye on the Diamond Bruiser’s movements.  
‘The Human Weapons were proved to be far too dangerous and because they can’t be destroyed they got sealed in different parts of Ethylias,’ Sheela explained ‘The Diamond Bruiser could have been found on this island or somewhere else where the Queen has been before. You need to say the title of the Human Weapon to get them working under your command. I suppose she had some help from her demon friends in finding her. Good choice, I might add…’  
‘Right so we just need to say her real name to shut her down, huh?’ Vienna raised an eyebrow and closed her eyes ‘Well it shouldn’t be too hard, I know a lot of names. …Annabelle!’ The girls jumped when the Diamond Bruiser yanked her braid out of the wall and turned to them. Sheela held her breath.  
‘Every time you try to call her name, she will react negatively if it’s the wrong name,’ she whispered to Vienna.  
‘Daisy!’ Sarah tried, despite the warning. The Diamond Bruiser raced forward, a fist raised to punch them. The girls split ways again and the Diamond Bruiser punched the stone wall, making a large dent.  
‘You two go ahead!’ Vienna shouted to Sheela and Amber as they were closer to the staircase ‘Sarah and I will try to take her down!’  
‘Are you quite sure about that?’ Sheela raised an eyebrow ‘You’re going to be here with Sarah.’  
‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me!’ Sarah gave a thumbs up and yelped, ducking when the braid came flying towards her and began running away ‘I’ll just slow you down up ahead anyway!’  
‘Good point…’ Amber jumped when brick went flying everywhere as the Diamond Bruiser yanked her braid out of the wall harshly. Sheela began fiddling with her hair nervously. ‘But you’ll get killed!’  
‘These things don’t know anything but killing!’ Sheela shrieked ‘I’m not leaving you here alone!’  
‘It’ll be fine, I’m here!’ Vienna waved her hand and changed into her feral wolf form ‘Susan!’ She jumped out of the way to dodge a punch when the Diamond Bruiser turned to her abruptly. Amber grabbed Sheela by the wrist and dragged her up the staircase that circled the room where they had a view of Sarah and Vienna fighting the Diamond Bruiser. Sheela did try to tug Amber back down the staircase but Amber was stronger, dragging her up the stairs. Until they reached the doorway, Sheela would nearly scream if Sarah nearly got hit. Amber grimaced as they passed into the next room.  
‘Lucrecia!’ Sarah tried her mother’s name to shut down the Diamond Bruiser and ducked to narrowly miss getting punched in the face ‘No? What about Sarah?’ She scampered around the room when the Diamond Bruiser swung another punch and tripped over her braid. The Diamond Bruiser stood over her, braid up and ready to strike Sarah. Sarah curled up, bracing for impact.  
‘Bianca!’ The Diamond Bruiser lifted her head as Vienna called another name and received three claws to the face. The nails went into the mesh and scratched the little skin the Diamond Bruiser had underneath. She stumbled back as Vienna howled in pain when one nail got snapped off her paw. Sarah took the chance to tackle Vienna to the other side of the room while blood seeped out of the mask.  
‘Aw, poor wolfie,’ she cooed and blew on Vienna’s cracked nail ‘Don’t worry, it’ll grow back…I think.’ Vienna shrunk into her tame wolf form, having Sarah hold her paw and whined pathetically. A tear went down her cheek as Sarah pressed a kiss to her paw and looked up at the Diamond Bruiser. ‘Shame on you! You made a young child cry! What do you have to say for yourself?’ The Diamond Bruiser remained silent, focusing mainly on her face under the mask that was bleeding.  
‘It’s impossible,’ Vienna whimpered as the Diamond Bruiser recovered, blood on her wired mesh hands, and turned to them, ready to attack again, her braid raised to attack them at any moment ‘There are thousands and thousands of names in the world and her name could be anything!’  
‘Wait, Sheela said that it could be a guy as well,’ Sarah remembered ‘It could be a guy’s name!’  
‘That just expands our name choice!’ Vienna grumbled as she took her paw back and jumped out of the way when the Diamond Bruiser began charging towards them ‘Damnit, if only we can get some clues to what her name could be!’ Sarah managed to get out of the way, narrowly missing getting struck by the braid. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief and looked at her with a determined face.  
‘Richard!’ she tried a male name. It was one of the biggest mistakes she could have ever made in her life. It seemed to anger the Diamond Bruiser and Sarah ducked to avoid getting hit by the braid. She didn’t see the punch coming hurtling towards her until she saw the ominous glint of the diamonds.  
CRACK! Vienna’s ears flattened and her eyes widened when she saw the contact and heard Sarah’s jaw breaking. She winced in sympathy as Sarah fell over backwards and landed heavily amongst the rubble from the stone walls. Her jaw dropped and she quickly turned into her human form.  
‘Holly, Brianna, Hayley!’ she chanted. The Diamond Bruiser took her attention off Sarah immediately when she heard three wrong names and her braid swung in Vienna’s direction and buried itself at her feet. Vienna jumped onto the braid and ran up it, jumping and kicking the Diamond Bruiser in the back, knocking her over in the process. She landed by Sarah who was curled up in the corner with blood pouring out of her mouth. ‘Sarah, are you alright?’ she asked while placing a hand on her shoulder. Sarah sobbed and tears dripped down her cheeks as she looked at her. She then shook her head slowly, indicating that she wasn’t alright. Vienna morphed into her feral wolf form, picked Sarah up, jumped onto the staircase away from harm and carefully lay her down. ‘Just rest, I’ll distract her more,’ she said as she jumped down to the Diamond Bruiser and ran to one side of the room ‘Joanna, Janine, Katherine!’ She jumped to avoid getting hit by the braid and ran up it to kick the Diamond Bruiser in the face. Sarah just lay on the floor, closing her eyes and slipping into a deep sleep full of nightmares.


	29. The Faerie Maze

Amber felt sweat roll down her forehead as she clung onto two spikes that were sticking out of the ceiling. She held out a hand and flailed it, hoping to touch the red button on the wall. She sighed in relief when she managed to push it and the spikes along the floor disappeared. Sheela carefully treaded across the floor as Amber fell from the ceiling after climbing through the room to deactivate the spike trap.   
‘I have never been so scared in deactivating a trap,’ she breathed and got on her hands and knees, taking some deep breaths. She took another deep breath and stood up, grabbing Sheela’s wrist and helping her up the staircase.  
‘Well, I never thought she would put in a few clichés,’ Sheela raised an eyebrow as she held Amber’s hand ‘If anything after the Human Weapon, I would have expected much more challenging obstacles.’ Amber noticed how she always looked back anxiously and had to pull her along whenever they had finished an obstacle. Sheela just walked like a puppet but still looked back.  
‘Sarah will be fine, she has Vienna,’ Amber said as the staircase began circling like the others and Sheela suddenly shouted.  
‘She’s my sister, every day she gets into an accident, every week she manages to get someone hurt, every month she breaks at least one bone and every year she ends up in near death situations!’ Sheela breathed in and out harshly, placing a hand over her quickened heart and Amber stopped while she began sobbing. ‘She’ll get killed if I don’t go back and help them with the Diamond Bruiser!’  
‘Have some faith in her!’ Amber said as she held Sheela’s hand tightly in both of hers ‘Sarah has always wanted a chance to prove to you that she isn’t a total klutz so let her and Vienna deal with the Diamond Bruiser.’  
‘Amber, I do have faith in her,’ Sheela raised an eyebrow at her ‘I have seen her prove to me that she isn’t a total klutz and I have loosened my ropes around her since we were sixteen. But let me make this very clear, Amber.’ Amber’s eyes widened as Sheela took a deep breath. ‘She and a child are battling a Human Weapon and not only a Human Weapon, one of the deadliest! They’re going to get killed! Even if they do manage to shut it down, it’ll be the last thing they’ll do in their lives!’  
‘…That’s why we must get to the Queen as soon as possible.’ Sheela took another deep breath and sighed harshly.  
‘Fine, but I’m going to choose where we bury the poor children,’ she said and let Amber lead her on. They ascended onto the next floor and Amber froze when she saw hedges.  
‘Damn, I hate mazes,’ she muttered as Sheela looked around to examine their surroundings.  
‘Don’t worry, I don’t think minotaurs would be able to live here without making holes in the hedges,’ Sheela somewhat recalled Amber’s last experience in the last tower.  
‘But there’s something in this maze,’ Amber whimpered ‘I can sense lots and lots of body heats. Though not as big as minotaurs thankfully but it is making me feel uneasy.’ The girls looked around at the four possible paths they could take and Sheela turned to Amber after examining each one.  
‘Well, I suggest that we part ways to try to escape this maze,’ she said ‘I can track you down with my sorcery, even with the limits from the Nightmare Blanket, and you can sense body heats so if one of us can get out of the maze, we can find the other and help them out.’ Amber nodded, a bit worried.  
‘I’m not so confident about all these tiny body heats I’m sensing,’ she said with narrowed eyes ‘What can you keep in a maze like this?’  
‘Anything from ants to deer,’ Sheela replied with a shrug ‘If the Queen kept something dangerous within these hedges, I don’t think it would be as feral as a bull minotaur.’  
‘I hope,’ Amber muttered as she picked a path to follow. Sheela picked the path next to the one Amber had gone down and began exploring the maze. She ran a hand along the hedged wall, feeling the green leaves slide through her fingers and the twigs scratching the palm of her hand. She began singing to herself and a nostalgic smile appeared on her face as she remembered the hours she would spend in the garden, looking after her siblings as they played in the sun. Sheela looked up when she heard the sound of tiny wings flapping and saw little lights flicking from one place to the other above her. She smiled warmly and reached a hand out to touch them.  
‘Faeries,’ she murmured as more and more lights began circling above her ‘What are you doing in this dreadful tower?’ Her bright sky blue eyes glistened in their light and a dreamy smile slowly spread on her face. Her movements slowed as the colour in her eyes dulled. The lights circled her and Sheela began moving, as if in a trance. They led her to a hedge wall where the hedge split, revealing a pathway. As the hedge closed behind her, the faeries led her across the pathway where another hedge split to take her back to the original maze. Sheela was taken to a small meadow with flowers and lots more faeries. They unbound her plat and lay her down gently where she stared up blankly as they circled her and weaved flowers into her loose silver hair. Sheela closed her eyes and drifted off to a nightmarish sleep.

***

Amber was confused. She had only been running through the maze for a few minutes and the tiny body heats had sort of floated away. She could sense much less than last time and Amber was suspicious. She carefully treaded across the paths that were covered in leaves and twigs. Suddenly she sensed a clump of body heats around the corner and picked up her pace to see what they were. As she turned the corner, she blinked in confusion when she realised that it was just a dead end. But she could sense so many tiny body heats! It didn’t make sense! Were they invisible or something? Amber slowly placed a hand on the hedge wall and then heard the tiny flaps of wings above her. She slowly looked up and saw several tiny gold and white lights circling her and her enhanced sight detected each little light to be a small person, each with individual looks if you took a good look. The girls looked pretty with long eyelashes and cute dresses to clothe them. The boys looked handsome with their gorgeous eyes and their strong looking body build. Their eyes glowed a deep blue and Amber closed her eyes to avoid getting hypnotized. She reached out and jumped, snatching one in her hand.  
‘I am not going to fall under your spell,’ she said sternly, eyes still closed ‘I know what your game is, I’m not going to play along very nicely I’m afraid. So sorry to disappoint you.’   
She suddenly yelped when the faerie in her hand sunk her teeth into her hand. She abruptly let go and opened her eyes to see a lot of angry faeries swirling around her and screaming with their tiny high-pitched voices. Amber was suddenly snatched by vines and pulled into the hedge behind her. She thrashed about as twigs snagged in her hair and cut through her clothes. Panting heavily when she eventually was bound with her wrists above her head and her ankles in the undergrowth, Amber looked around to examine her surroundings. All she saw was hedges and she let out an annoyed huff. Grunting, she dug her nails into the vines that bound her wrists and sawing through them to get free. They were thick vines but very soft so she didn’t break a nail while getting herself free. Once the vines snapped back to their original places, Amber began pulling her legs free and scrambling around the hedge blindly to get out. The hedge unexpectedly split and Amber fell to the ground once she realised she had been suspended in the air. Amber looked around, confused to which direction she should go in but the angered faeries that swirled above her made her decision fairly quick. She shot in one direction and began running away wildly from the tiny annoying little lights. What made the chase more interesting was that the hedges were after her too so Amber frantically jumped and ducked to avoid getting hit by vines and branches that appeared in front of her. Amber felt the adrenaline run through her as she blindly turned corners and yelped when she tripped over one branch and landed in a clearing in the maze. The faeries flew straight over her as she groaned, lying on the ground and seemingly unconscious. Amber slowly sat up and blinked when she saw a staircase spiralling up to the ceiling.  
‘OK, now where’s Sheela?’   
Amber frowned and closed her eyes, focusing on looking for a larger body to detect the heat off. All she could feel were the faeries’ body heats surrounding her and hiding in the hedges. Amber gave a wary look to the hedges around her. She didn’t like being watched, she especially didn’t like being watched and knowing that she was outnumbered. She tried her best to ignore the faeries and concentrate on finding Sheela. Eventually she detected a larger body heat but what alarmed Amber was that it was lying down, not doing that much. Well the fact that she could detect the body heat proved that Sheela was well and alive but Amber got worried. She didn’t know how to break a faerie’s grip on a hypnotized person. This would certainly prove to be a challenge. With a deep breath, Amber began running through the maze, trying to follow Sheela’s body heat. The branches and vines lashed out to try and grab her again while the tiny body heats of the faeries began clumping above her again. Amber’s mind was focused solely on Sheela’s body heat which led her directly to the field that Sheela lay in. Amber fell at Sheela’s body, frantically batting away the faeries that surrounded the young sorceress. She grabbed Sheela’s limp hand and pulled her to her feet. Sheela automatically stood, dazed with a dreamy look on her face. Seeing Sheela respond so fast, Amber gripped Sheela’s hand and began running only to be jerked back by Sheela’s slow reflexes. As Amber fell over she heard the faeries laugh in their tiny high pitched voices and sighed in irritation.  
‘Shut up,’ she grumbled moodily as she got to her feet and jerked Sheela forward ‘Come on, Sheela, wake up!’   
Sheela’s legs began moving slowly and Amber sighed tiredly as the faeries laughed harder. Amber tugged Sheela harder and Sheela began to walk at a normal pace. The faeries’ laughter died down as Amber tugged Sheela again and they ran off, Amber clumsily steering Sheela through the maze to get to the exit. The faeries screamed loudly and Amber hissed in pain when her ears began ringing. Sheela’s face remained blank as she blindly followed Amber to the staircase. Amber saw clouds of faeries coming from different paths and pulled Sheela harshly up the stairs. Sheela’s bare feet didn’t pick themselves up so she fell after the first step. Amber was hauled back from the sudden fall and sighed tiredly when she saw Sheela lying on the stairs, staring ahead expressionlessly.  
‘Come on, Sheela, get up!’ she shouted as the faeries began circling her, biting her neck, her hands, her arms and her legs ‘Come on, we’re nearly there!’ She swatted the faeries away like angry bees while pulling Sheela to her feet and pulling her up the staircase. Sheela’s feet eventually learned how to climb stairs and Amber led her up the spiralling staircase, blood dripping from the tiny bite marks covering her body and her clothes ripped from where tiny hands had been pulling at her. Amber furiously swiped at the faeries while storming up the staircase, a huge sense of relief flooding her body when she saw the doorway up ahead. The faeries were starting to attack her face and Amber closed her eyes, clearing a path through the insistent cloud of gold and white light until her hand found a door handle. She pushed against the door and tumbled into another room, Sheela falling in after her. As soon as the door swung shut, Sheela blinked in confusion, the colour slowly returning to her eyes.  
‘What…happened?’ she asked as she sat in the dimly lit room thoughtfully then saw Amber lying on the floor, lots of pinpricks covering her body and her clothes slightly torn. Amber looked at her and sighed.  
‘You…owe…me…’ she breathed as Sheela covered her mouth in horror while healing up the bite marks.  
‘Oh dear, I don’t know what came over me!’ Sheela began panicking while Amber regained her breath and sat up ‘I saw the faeries and I thought they might help us get out of the maze…’  
‘Silai Faeries do no such thing,’ Amber breathed and looked at Sheela ‘They’re tiny little monsters, always wanting to cause mischief. They’re pretty vicious too, they feed on flesh unlike other faeries.’ Sheela balked at the last comment while Amber grimaced. ‘Silai Faeries allure their prey by hypnotizing them and putting them to sleep if they want the prey to keep for a banquet. If I hadn’t gotten to you, you would have been quite the banquet tonight.’  
‘How do you know about these Silai Faeries?’ Sheela asked as she pulled the flowers out of her hair.  
‘My father bred them to use for missions,’ Amber shrugged ‘Nasty little buggers too, one or two would escape occasionally and bite one of us. They’re especially lethal if you have them in colonies like the one that was living down there. If you really get them angry, they’ll eat you alive, stripping you from all your flesh and muscle.’ Sheela shuddered as she slowly got to her feet and dusted herself down.  
‘Well, thank you,’ she said with a nod ‘I believe I owe you my life.’  
‘Don’t mention it, if you see any more Silai Faeries don’t look at them and just run for your life,’ Amber said as she scrambled up to her feet ‘I don’t think we’ve got much further to go…’   
‘No, you don’t,’ a voice echoed in the air ‘In fact, you are one floor below the Queen.’   
Sheela and Amber turned their heads to the staircase where a young girl of fourteen years descended, her sleek silver hair reaching her past her shoulders. Her golden eyes glowed in the dim light as gold orbs of energy appeared in her hands. Amber brought her fists up while energy sparked at Sheela’s fingertips. The young girl smirked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.  
‘I hope the Silai Faeries weren’t too rude to your coming here,’ she commented as Amber narrowed her eyes, rolling her shoulders stiffly.  
‘Who are you and why do you work for the Queen?’ Sheela asked as more energy sparked from her fingertips when their opponent’s orbs of energy grew brighter.  
‘Lavender Fox,’ Lavender replied coolly and gave a courteous bow ‘At your service.’   
Her eyes gleamed playfully as she threw one orb into Sheela’s stomach. Sheela let out a pained grunt as she was thrown back and crashed into the wall behind her. Her frail body collapsed onto the floor and Amber charged towards Lavender, her fists raised to attack the young sorceress. Lavender grabbed her by the hair and exploded the remaining energy orb in Amber’s face. Pain exploded in Amber’s head as Lavender tossed her to Sheela carelessly, dusting her hands with a disappointed sigh.  
‘Her Majesty was so eager to fight you after we saw your battle against the sabre toothed cat,’ she shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. Amber let out an angered snarl.  
‘You fight dirty,’ she accused while getting off Sheela and rubbing her slightly singed face.  
‘No, I fight like a proper sorceress in training,’ Lavender smiled warmly while lacing her hands together in front of her ‘You’re just sloppy.’ Sheela groaned as she sat up and rubbed the back of her head with a pained wince.  
‘Sloppy or not, you don’t take advantage of opponents that are obviously weaker than you,’ she scolded while shakily getting up to her feet.  
‘I was going easy,’ Lavender shrugged while letting gold energy spark between her fingertips as she got ready for her next spell. There was a pained wail from upstairs and the girls froze. Lavender winced when the wail sounded again and sighed. ‘This isn’t really the right time…’  
‘What’s going on?’ Amber asked warily as Lavender waved the energy off her hands and began ascending the stairs.  
‘Her Majesty is giving birth,’ Lavender announced and paused midway up the stairs to look at the girls ‘If you ladies would be kind enough to assist then we would be glad to have the extra help.’ Amber heard Florence wail louder and Lavender sighed tiredly, hitching the skirt of her dress up and hurrying up the staircase. Sheela and Amber gave each other a look before following Lavender.


	30. The Descent

Amber and Sheela entered the bedroom to see Lavender placing Florence down on the large bed and spreading her legs, giving her instructions to help the birth. Florence breathed in and out harshly as her face broke out in a frenzied sweat. Amber stared at her, confused on what she should do. Should they attack now when the sisters were vulnerable and off their guard? Should they help with the birth, Florence was only sixteen after all… Amber looked up at Sheela who was just staring at Lavender who was bustling about. Amber looked around the room, there didn’t seem to be any obvious threats to get them during the birth. Amber took another look at Sheela and Sheela shook her head.  
‘No, no, no, you’re doing it wrong!’ she suddenly snapped as she rushed over to stand next to Lavender ‘I’ll do the protection spell, you and Amber just get those towels and a bowl of warm water ready!’ Lavender stepped back, blinking in alarm. She looked at Florence and Florence just nodded.  
‘Just get this baby out safe and healthy!’ she said quickly. Sheela nodded and a blue dome encircled the baby bump, soothing and relaxing the muscles. Florence took deep breaths as Lavender threw towels into Amber’s arms and began filling a small bathtub of water to bathe the baby in.  
‘Amber, I need you!’ Sheela called as she reached over to between Florence’s legs ‘She’s giving birth quicker than I expected, support the head!’ Amber dumped the towels on the bed and rushed over to support the tiny head coming out of Florence. She blinked as she cradled the small head in her hands and stared thoughtfully at it.  
‘It’s…soft…’ she whispered as she ran her thumbs gently over the bloody head as Florence screamed while pushing again more. Amber gently helped the baby come out and heard the baby cry as it took its first gulp of air. Lavender held Florence’s hand and squeezed it tightly as Florence screamed and pushed whenever Sheela commanded her. Amber gently cradled the baby, staring at it blankly, feeling unsure on what she was doing.  
‘We’re nearly there now, just push with all your might!’ Sheela said when Amber carried most of the baby in her hands. Florence gasped and breathed, sweat covering her whole body and let out another scream as she gave one final push. Amber’s eyes widened in a panic as the baby popped out completely in her hands, blood everywhere and the baby began to cry. Sheela swooped down, cutting the umbilical cord and Lavender took the baby out of Amber’s hands once she saw the cord being cut.  
‘Congratulations,’ she smiled while washing the baby as Sheela dipped Amber’s hands into a separate bowl to cleanse them ‘It’s a baby girl.’ Amber watched as Florence sighed in relief and smiled warmly.   
‘Did I hear that it’s a girl?’ a man with short blue hair and bright blue eyes popped his head into the room with a charismatic grin. Amber jumped with wide eyes as she recognized it to be the man that she had seen in the tower in the wasteland. He swooped down towards Lavender and grinned wider, if possible, as he saw the little baby girl. ‘Well isn’t she cute?’ he crooned and stroked her head that had a thin layer of blue hair.  
‘Yes, but all pleasantries aside, Nightmare,’ Lavender said once she handed the baby to Florence to wean ‘What do we do about the intruders?’  
‘Intruders, eh?’ Nightmare whirled around and clasped his clawed hands together. ‘Well isn’t this a nice surprise?’ he said and bent down to Amber ‘You must be Amber, very nice to meet you.’ He extended a hand out to her but Sheela got in between them with a fiery glare directed towards Nightmare.  
‘Don’t touch her, you demon,’ she said coolly and Nightmare mocked fear, his hands waving in the air.  
‘Ooo! What are you going to do, dearie? Leave me at the altar?’ Sheela fumed as Nightmare cackled loudly and swung a punch at him. Nightmare caught the punch with a confident smirk and ran a thumb over her knuckles thoughtfully. ‘My, this little dearie has fire,’ he purred ‘Does this little dearie want to be a host for an experiment?’  
‘Nightmare,’ Lavender hissed at him ‘That’s enough, this is a temporary ceasefire.’ Nightmare hummed in disappointment and stepped back from Sheela, hands behind his back.  
‘Spoilsport,’ he muttered and reversed to bend down and watch Florence with her baby. Amber clung onto Sheela like a child clinging onto its mother as she watched the way Florence cradled the new-born, despite how tired and exhausted she looked.  
‘I shall ask this now,’ Florence said with a surprisingly clear voice as she looked up to the girls ‘Sheela and Amber, I would be honoured to have you two in my court.’ Amber’s lips lifted to bear her yellowed teeth.  
‘No,’ she sneered. Florence blinked as surprise as Sheela shook her head to deny the offer as well and giggled.  
‘Amber, that was the exact response your father gave me when I offered him a place,’ she said with a tired smile.  
‘What did you do to him?’ Amber demanded as she stepped out from behind Sheela.  
‘Oh, just a simple curse,’ Florence said dismissively as she handed her baby over to Lavender to wrap up in a blanket ‘He’s fine, I’m sure.’  
‘Well if he’s fine then why didn’t he return home?!’ Amber raised her voice.  
‘Maybe you just didn’t see him,’ Florence smirked confidently.  
‘And my sisters?’ Sheela stepped forward ‘You have taken hostage of two of my sisters and I request for their freedom.’  
‘Sisters?’ Florence frowned for a second while staring at Sheela then raised her eyebrows ‘Oh, your sisters, Iris and Cecilia?’  
‘Yes, them,’ Sheela nodded and Florence smirked.  
‘My dear girl, they aren’t hostages,’ Florence said as Nightmare helped her up to her feet as Lavender left the room with the slumbering baby ‘They came to me at their own free will, requesting to be part of my court.’  
‘I highly doubt that,’ Sheela spat venomously.  
‘Oh, believe what you wish,’ Florence smirked as Nightmare carried her out ‘If you really wish to see them again then look for them around Relevein Town. I believe you might also find someone else there for you, Amber.’ Amber was about to chase after her when the tower suddenly shook. Rubble began falling from the ceiling as Sheela lost her footing. The floor suddenly split open beneath the girls, sending them down into the darkness.

***

Xeann and Siegfried came out of Siegfried’s hut when they heard loud rumbles and residents mumbling and exclaiming. Xeann gasped in shock as the bottom of a floating island made itself visible from the Nightmare Blanket that was blinking from sky blue to dark blue to purple and then to red. Everyone watched in awe, shock and horror as it descended down and landed right outside the village with a loud crash. Xeann immediately ran over to the ruins, shifting rubble as fast as she could, despite the strain it caused on her arms. The instant she saw silver hair with blue highlights, she yanked poor Amber out and hugged her tightly.  
‘Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!’ she gasped as Amber blinked blearily and shook from the shock of falling from such a height ‘Siegfried! Siegfried, take Amber!’ Siegfried took Amber from Xeann and led her inside his hut to give her something for her shock. Xeann and the scavengers kept on shifting the rubble, Xeann more quickly and more clumsily due to her panic until something from underneath moved. Xeann slowly reached down to push some more rubble away and gasped when a large braid made out of wired mesh with a diamond tip shot out.  
‘Run!’ screamed a villager as the scavengers ran off while the Diamond Bruiser pulled itself from out of the rubble, ready to kill. Xeann watched with her blood red eyes wide with shock and recognition. Her face went grim as the Diamond Bruiser faced her with her fists ready to punch and break any bone in her body. Xeann slowly stood up so that her face was level with the Diamond Bruiser’s, not deterred by the threatening aura the Human Weapon gave off.  
‘You wouldn’t hurt me, would you?’ she asked softly, her eyes brimming with tears ‘Would you, Zenna?’ The Diamond Bruiser stiffened then relaxed, her fists falling to her sides.  
‘Xeann…?’ Her voice croaked then faded away and Xeann caught her as she fell forward when she shut down. Xeann held back the tears while hugging Zenna carefully, avoiding getting hurt.  
‘Nan!’ Xeann lifted her head up sharply as she heard a familiar voice and lay Zenna down carefully, scrambling over to the place where she had been.  
‘Vienna?’ she said as she saw Vienna’s face amongst the rubble ‘Vienna! Vienna, are you alright? Oh thank God, your mother would kill me if she discovered that I let you kill yourself behind my back!’  
‘Nan,’ Vienna said urgently as Xeann began digging her out ‘Nan, Sarah got her jaw broken! She needs help!’  
‘WHAT?!’ Xeann and Vienna jumped as rubble shifted somewhere else and Sheela burst from the mess. She immediately ran up to them and yanked Sarah’s hand that was sticking out from the pile of junk limply and began checking the damage with wide eyes. She tried to use her healing powers but the fall had drained her, not to mention how much energy she had used up to help the Queen give birth. Xeann gave her a sympathetic look and picked Sarah up gently.  
‘I’ll make sure she’s alright,’ she said as Vienna scrambled out of the pile of rubble ‘Siegfried! Siegfried, Sarah needs help!’  
‘I am not ssssssssssurprisssssssssed,’ came Siegfried’s amused hiss but Sheela paid no attention to it, shifting away more rubble to try and find Saphira. Vienna turned into her tame wolf form and began digging through the rubble frantically, desperately sniffing out Saphira’s scent. Sheela snapped her head up at the sound of rubble shifting and Vienna barked happily when a pale hand arose from the mess and began pushing itself out. Sheela grabbed it and pulled Saphira out of the rubble. A rather soggy and bruised Saphira swayed groggily and Sheela supported her as Vienna licked her hand happily, relieved that she was saved.  
‘My head hurts,’ she groaned and Sheela smiled sympathetically.  
‘I am not surprised,’ she murmured and helped Saphira into Siegfried’s hut. As soon as Saphira was on a bed with a small bag of ice on her head, Sheela rushed over to Sarah’s bed, watching as Siegfried poured medicine on Sarah’s jaw. She gripped the sheets fearfully as Sarah slowly drifted off to a comatose state. Siegfried looked up to her and reached out to hold her hand. Sheela didn’t notice her hand being enveloped by his scaly hand, just concerned about her sister. She didn’t look very fine, she was panicking over her sister and she was just so drained from using her powers to help the Queen give birth. Siegfried smiled at her warmly.  
‘Ssssshe’ll be fine,’ he reassured her ‘I guarantee it.’ Sheela looked up at him uncertainly and hung her head, her shoulder shaking as she sobbed. Siegfried smiled sympathetically and brought Sheela into a tight hug. He paused and slowly nosed her hair, combing it gently with his fingers. He then caught Xeann’s look and raised an eyebrow. ‘What?’ Xeann rolled her eyes and checked in on Amber, holding her hand.  
‘Hey, are you alright?’ she asked and yelped when Amber tackled her into big hug.  
‘Where were you?!’ Amber shrieked ‘You’ve been gone for ages, we thought you were dead!’  
‘I’m sorry, Amber, I really am,’ Xeann hugged her back tightly ‘I got caught up in something personal and…and I engaged the demons in a fight.’  
‘You actually battled them?’ Amber gasped ‘And you’re still alive?’ Xeann chuckled and looked down.  
‘Well, they let me off easily, it turns out that I’m not too much of a threat to them,’ Xeann sighed and got up ‘Will you excuse me?’ Amber watched as Xeann rose to her feet and left Siegfried’s hut, blinking curiously before curling up on her bed to get some rest.

***

Xeann had been gone for some time and Vienna decided to go out and look for her. It began raining lightly as she padded through the streets in her tame wolf form, sniffing out for her grandmother’s scent. She paused as she saw the Mother Vampire by the rubble pile of the tower, most of the rubble had been spread out by the scavengers. Her eyes widened when she saw Xeann cradle the Diamond Bruiser in her arms.  
‘Nan, watch out!’ she shouted, turning into human form and running to her.  
‘She’s shut down now, there’s no need to worry,’ Xeann said calmly as her granddaughter grabbed her shoulder fearfully. Vienna took a good look at the Diamond Bruiser and sighed in relief when she realised that the Diamond Bruiser wasn’t moving. She came a bit closer and ran her finger down the wired mesh curiously.  
‘How did you manage to shut her down?’ Vienna frowned ‘I didn’t hear you call any names at her…’ Xeann’s bottom lip wobbled as she carefully hugged the Diamond Bruiser so that her head was on the shoulder.  
‘When I was at boarding school, I met this very bright and intelligent student studying science,’ she said ‘Her name was Zenna, her whole family pursued the science career so she was a natural in every science lesson we had. We became the best of friends and were practically inseparable. She was my first love.’  
‘Wait, you’re gay?’ Vienna frowned and stepped away ‘Eww…’  
‘Don’t judge me for my sexuality, young lady,’ Xeann snapped at her ‘And it was a girls only boarding school, lesbian relationships aren’t that uncommon. We went out for two years.’  
‘And what does this have to do with…this?’ Vienna gestured to the limp Diamond Bruiser.  
‘Zenna’s father was one of the heads of the Human Weapon project,’ Xeann began to choke up ‘Zenna naturally wanted to be one of them because she loved science more than me apparently!’ Vienna grimaced sympathetically as Xeann gripped the Diamond Bruiser tighter to her. ‘I was raped when I was sixteen, Vienna and I went to boarding school pregnant. We were going to raise the child once we left school and I would turn her into a vampire so we could spend an extended lifetime together. We had so many plans for the future and she wanted to throw it away so the world could advance in science and the war with Aurallion would end!’  
‘Wait…so that’s Zenna?’ Vienna pointed to the limp body with wide eyes. Xeann sniffed and nodded.  
‘I went with her to her home for the conversion,’ she croaked ‘I saw the whole operation happen before my eyes. For God’s sake, she was only seventeen! And this whole project was so inhumane, how could her parents just stand there and watch their daughter getting turned into a monster?!’  
‘Nan, is this why you’re so against science and the Ninth Category?’ Vienna cautiously asked. Xeann nodded and let the tears fall onto Zenna’s chest.

***

It was Xeann’s nineteenth birthday when the conversion occurred. She stood behind a glass window, watching as saws and drills were used on Zenna’s comatose body. It took three security guards to restrain her whenever she tried to run out and stop the operation. It hurt. It hurt bad. Watching her first love lying there while men in white coats circled her body and ripped her skin off to put wired mesh in place and shave her beautiful long silver hair off to insert metal fibres into her brain. Zenna’s parents stood in the same room, a look of pride spreading across their faces. Xeann couldn’t understand why they would let their youngest daughter go through such an operation. Was science really more important than family to them? Clearly, everyone in the family didn’t care much for relationships, Zenna even confessed that she didn’t even care that much about her. Xeann remembered how much she had cried while watching the operation. She didn’t want to watch but at the same time she did. It took five hours to complete Zenna’s conversion and the next day they took her out for a test run.  
‘Diamond Bruiser.’   
Xeann watched glumly as Zenna rose from the bed and stood up, facing her father that had switched her on. The middle-aged scientist smiled in satisfaction and turned to her.  
‘You must be wondering if you’ll see our daughter again soon, hm?’ he said as if he could read her thoughts ‘Well, I took the liberty to look through your background and I see that you live in Renita City?’ Xeann nodded with a grimace.  
‘I am planning on moving to a quieter area when I’m free from my parents,’ she murmured.  
‘Yes, well I shall propose an idea. The spring holidays are approaching and the war might be still going on in Aurallion by then. Considering that Renita City is on Aurallion’s doorstep and you had a special attachment to my daughter, you may have her as a late birthday present to protect you and your family.’  
Xeann honestly couldn’t speak for the next five minutes. Her heart was racing at the idea that she would be able to have that future with Zenna but at the same time, would it be right? Zenna’s only purpose was to kill like the other Human Weapons at her command. Xeann didn’t like having that much power in her hands. Seeing Zenna like this made Xeann’s heart break. Xeann watched as Zenna stood still like a statue, staring ahead blankly.  
‘Zenna?’ Xeann held her breath as Zenna turned to her.  
‘Xeann…!’ Xeann stumbled as she heard Zenna’s voice through the mask and Zenna shut down, falling on top of her. Xeann slowly brought her arms around the metal body and cried out in agony.  
‘I can’t!’ she cried ‘You took away my girlfriend and turned her into a monster and now you want me to have her so I can have the pain of seeing her like this?!’ She pushed Zenna back so she fell onto the bed and slapped her father. ‘You’re all monsters!’ she shouted and stormed off to leave the godforsaken labs to go back to school where she could grieve more ‘How could you even think of doing this to other people?!’ She never saw Zenna again. All she heard was that she was put into the frontline of the army and killed over two hundred soldiers, mortally injuring a few more hundred. Then she was sealed away with the other weapons but their locations were kept secret.

***

‘Vienna, I’m going to go and bury Zenna,’ Xeann announced as she picked Zenna up and stood ‘I’ll be back by morning, I promise.’   
Vienna watched as Xeann stood and carried Zenna up the mountains up ahead. She whimpered sympathetically and turned back to go back to Siegfried’s hut. Xeann ascended to the highest empty cave that she could reach and lay Zenna inside. She sat next to her with sad eyes and sighed.  
‘Diamond Bruiser.’


	31. To Relevein Town

Amber wasn’t sure just how long Sarah had been in her coma. But there was one thing she was sure about, Sheela wouldn’t leave without Sarah. Saphira wouldn’t leave without Sheela. Vienna wouldn’t leave without Saphira, Xeann wouldn’t leave without Vienna which resulted in either going to Relevein Town on her own or staying behind. Amber didn’t want to leave without having Xeann around. So she had been stuck in Stiraia Village, combatting weaker monsters in the junkyard to keep in shape. Amber was starting to experience changes in her body and she began worrying just how long they’ve been in Stiraia Village.   
The first thing she noticed was that she had grown a couple of inches and she grew out of Sarah’s clothes, ripping them a bit. Siegfried stitched them up when that happened. The next thing Amber knew her body was doing, her breasts had gotten bigger and ripped Sarah’s shirt. Another patching up job for Siegfried. Soon Amber felt her hips widening and she got worried that she might be starting her periods soon. Considering their current situation, that would be very inconvenient and Amber would be very stressed with the changes in her body, effectively distracting her from her training and battling. The only thing Amber was pleased about was that her muscles were developing and growing just nicely and she felt herself growing stronger.   
As the days and weeks passed, Amber felt herself growing restless just staying in Stiraia Village to wait and see if Sarah was going to wake up. She didn’t dare go to Relevein Town on her own in case there were dangerous monsters like the Narwhine and the Croft’s Raven from earlier encounters blocking the way. Xeann had taken her outside the village but not as far as past the mountains that surrounded it. But with Xeann they could hunt down other monsters that were stronger than the monsters in the junkyard which really tested and trained Amber's skills. But Amber still yearned to go to Relevein Town and track Florence down again to find her father. It was getting more frustrating with every day she had to wait for Sarah to open her eyes. You could imagine her excitement when Sarah finally showed signs that she was waking up.  
It started with her hands twitching and Sheela pulled Siegfried over to check if she was alright. Then slowly but surely her eyes opened and she was greeted by a very joyful and tearful hug before getting a harsh smack around the head for being stupid and clumsy enough to get her jaw broken. The next day they began to set out for Relevein Town which meant hiking around the next set of Hyacin Mountains.

***

‘Hurry up, Vienna!’ Xeann called as she climbed up the slope.  
‘I’m coming, I’m coming, you old zombie!’ Vienna snarled as she trailed after her grandmother wearily. Amber was already at the top of the slope and Xeann’s demands to stay put was all that kept her at the top instead of going ahead to Relevein Town. She clenched her fists and waited impatiently for the rest of the girls to reach the top, tapping her foot to try and suppress her energy. She then began jumping to get rid of her agitation. She felt pumped and ready to punch that egotistic Queen in the face. Xeann reached her first and stopped her jumping by placing a hand on her shoulder.  
‘Patience is a virtue, little one,’ she said and Amber chewed on her lip.  
‘Sarah was in that coma for ages though!’ Amber growled angrily ‘In the time that she was out, I could have found my family and have taken Florence down! It was such a waste of time to wait for Sarah…’  
‘Ah, so her name is Florence?’ Xeann raised an eyebrow ‘I suppose it is a pretty name for a pretty young lady.’  
‘I wonder what she named her daughter,’ Sheela thought out loud as she reached the top next.  
‘I feel sorry for the child,’ Amber scoffed ‘Having a mother like that, I would report that child to the RSPCC in normal circumstances.’ Sheela and Xeann were both taken aback by Amber’s foul mood. Xeann was less surprised, she had been stuck in the village for over six months and every day she got more agitated. But this sudden mood swing, Xeann suspected that Amber was growing up more in puberty and her menstrual cycle might be starting. Oh, the poor girl.  
‘Finally,’ Saphira wheezed as she reached the top next with Sarah holding onto her tail to avoid falling.  
‘Vienna, hurry up!’ Xeann called to the lilac wolf that was scrambling up the slope.  
‘I’m coming, keep your knickers on!’ Vienna snarled as her hind leg slipped on some gravel. Amber tapped her foot impatiently, staring ahead at the sandy wasteland behind the Hyacin Mountains. She saw a cluster of houses which she assumed to be Relevein Town. Behind it was a large crater where a small meteor had struck the planet many millennia ago. It had devastating effects to a large portion of the planet and in the present day very few people survived travelling into the crater. It was rumoured to contain treasure and alien life. As soon as Amber saw Vienna’s paws touch the path that they were on, she marched off without much of a second thought, her mind set on finding Florence.  
‘Amber, watch out!’ Xeann shrieked as she tackled her to the ground. Amber landed with a loud THWUMP and a gust of air blew past them. She looked up when she heard the loud sound of wings beating against each other.   
‘It’s a Flaregona!’ Saphira shouted ‘Run for it!’ Xeann slung Amber over her shoulder and slid down the mountain slope on the other side of the path. Amber looked up and her eyes widened when she saw a massive scarlet dragonfly creature with a glowing orange tip. It began shooting hot red fireballs at the girls as they slid down the slope. They hit the slope the girls were on, sending them flying into the wasteland. Sheela was trying shooting spells at it to steer it away, however the fall weakened her too much to be able to shoot spells as far. Sarah grabbed her sister before she collapsed and began dragging her across the wasteland in a panic. Vienna and Saphira used their tame wolf forms to run across the wasteland, tails tucked between their hind legs, while Xeann got her blades out in case they would be used. No-one realised that Amber had stayed behind to try to fight the Flaregona herself.  
She watched as the Flaregona chased after the others and picked up a reasonably large rock. She used her strength that she had been building up over the months to throw it and it struck the Flaregona’s tail tip. There was a loud screech that sounded throughout the wasteland. Amber braced herself as the Flaregona swerved and stared down at her with an angered buzz. Xeann skidded to a halt and turned around, sighing in exasperation.  
‘Amber, what do you think you’re doing, young lady?!’ she snapped as Amber began zig-zagging up the slope. The Flaregona buzzed angrily as it clumsily fired fireballs at Amber. Xeann sighed again and began running towards them. Amber, her body holding a few burns from the close calls whilst climbing, reached the top and was at perfect height to jump on the Flaregona. She braced her knees and then launched herself at the Flaregona. She was going to land on its head but out of nowhere, a beam of navy blue energy shot out and disintegrated the Flaregona. Amber’s eyes widened as she went through the cloud of smoke and tried to look for the source. Xeann dropped her blades and ran underneath Amber, catching her. She turned around to the source of the attack and only saw the top of the crater as the only place where it would have been possible to fire such a powerful attack.  
‘Are you alright?’ Sheela asked as Xeann placed Amber down and put away her blades.  
‘Well whatever that last attack was, it got rid of the Flaregona,’ Xeann said as she kept her eye on the crater then looked at Amber ‘What were you thinking?!’ Amber jumped when Xeann raised her voice.  
‘I…I…’ she stuttered as the girls came back and began forming a small circle.  
‘Were you trying to get yourself killed?!’ Xeann shrieked.  
‘But I thought I could take it on by myself,’ Amber defended herself weakly.  
‘Only the most experienced can take down a Flaregona by themselves!’ Xeann was losing her cool now and Vienna just squeezed her hand tightly to calm her down ‘You could have been burned alive if you landed on it! What would your mother say if I brought back your ashes?!’  
‘But I’ve been training so hard these past six months!’ Amber whined ‘I thought I’d be strong enough to kill it!’  
‘You’re only fifteen, Amber and you’ve never been up against a Flaregona before,’ Saphira said calmly as she turned into her human form.  
‘I’m fourteen,’ Amber argued. Everyone went silent and Amber then began thinking about how much time had passed since the Nightmare Blanket was released. Saphira sighed and shook her head.  
‘I’ve actually been keeping track of the days,’ she said ‘It’s been fourteen months. I think you’re fifteen years old by now.’  
‘My birthday was two months ago?’ Amber said as she stared ahead ‘It’s been over a year since my family was torn apart?’   
‘We should get going,’ Sheela quickly said and everyone began heading over to Relevein Town. Amber trailed behind them, eyes fixed to the ground in thought. Fifteen years of age, she had three more years until she could officially start her assassin profession, starting with simple assassinations like discretely poisoning elder people. But that wouldn’t be possible with Florence in charge of the Ethylias.  
‘So what do you reckon killed the Flaregona?’ Saphira asked Sheela as Amber slowly caught up and matched their pace.  
‘I haven’t got a clue,’ Sheela shook her head ‘Normal magic can’t be fired and have a direct hit from that distance.’  
‘Maybe it was an alien!’ Vienna said spookily and tugged at Xeann’s sleeve ‘Hey, Nan, do you think it was an alien?’  
‘I think it was a demon,’ Xeann replied bluntly as she jerked her sleeve out of Vienna’s grip ‘Probably Nightmare judging by the colour of the magic. Stupid prat, always trying to show off his power…’   
‘Wait, a demon?’ Sheela frowned ‘Xeann, are you sure?’  
‘There are two powers that can travel such distances and have a big impact on living things like that,’ Xeann said as she turned around to see the few ashes of the Flaregona still floating down ‘One is demonic power, the other is divine power.’  
‘But what if it was a divine power?’ Sarah suggested as Sheela handed her some water from a salvaged gourd to keep her going.  
‘Please, if it were a divine power that would mean the Lord Almighty would have granted his angels to come to Ethylias and help us through this hellish nightmare,’ Xeann grumbled moodily then glared up at the Nightmare Blanket ‘It’s really nice to know that you care about us, Lord! I bet you’re damn happy to just sit there and watch this planet crumble away to the demons!’ Sheela took a step away from Xeann discretely as did the other girls.   
‘So what’s Relevein Town like?’ Saphira asked as they neared the cluster of houses by the crater.  
‘Well, Relevein Town is famous for its performing arts school,’ Xeann said with a wistful smile ‘I remember spending a few years there.’  
‘And yet you end up being some pr…’ Vienna was about to remark and yelped when Xeann clipped her over the ear, interrupting her.  
‘It was only for the fun of it,’ Xeann continued ‘I’ve always loved acting, it had been a passion since I was a little girl.’  
‘So did you actually have to stay over there if you enrolled into the school then?’ Sheela asked with a frown ‘It must be sort of daunting to have a massive crater like that looming over you.’  
‘Actually it was sort of interesting because over the years, the walls of the crater became hosts of alien specimens, or so scientists say anyway, that’s why it’s a dark green colour, and sometimes it would glow.’ Xeann sighed wistfully. ‘Those were good times during my youth. I gave birth to your Aunts Garnet, Jade and Dawn and your Uncles Christopher and Edmund then, Vienna.’  
‘That’s good to know,’ Vienna mumbled, not really listening.  
‘Actually, I believe Bianca’s father was one of the students I went out with briefly,’ Xeann hummed and scratched her head thoughtfully ‘I don’t remember his name, but I believe he went on to be a Drama teacher later on.’  
‘Wait, my grandfather might be in this town?’ Vienna perked up hopefully.  
‘Don’t get your hopes up, dear,’ Xeann smiled and ruffled Vienna’s hair ‘He was only a human and it was fifty six years ago. He’s probably retired, married, has other grandchildren and gone over to Zugaite Village to live out the rest of his years. Who knows, he might be dead by now…’  
‘Sometimes I wish you would just stick to one guy to have your children with,’ Vienna grumbled under her breath as she looked rather deflated.  
‘You have two grandfathers at home to spoil you,’ Xeann frowned ‘Don’t you like them?’  
‘Yeah but they’re not exactly my actual grandfathers are they?’ Vienna glared at Xeann.  
‘What about Seri? You love Seri don’t you?’ Vienna remained silent with a cute embarrassed blush on her face. Xeann smirked triumphantly as Amber sat down to stretch her legs.  
‘I’m tired,’ she whined.  
‘It’s not far now,’ Sheela bent down to place a hand on her shoulder.  
‘But I want to be there now, my legs ache and my feet hurt…’ Amber pouted moodily. Xeann sighed and went over.  
‘Up you go,’ she heaved and swung Amber onto her back ‘Now don’t get too comfortable, I don’t normally give teenagers piggy back rides.’ Amber immediately clung onto her and closed her eyes to take a nap. Xeann raised an eyebrow and shook her head with a tired sigh. ‘She’s a piece of work,’ she muttered as they continued walking to Relevein Town.  
‘Hey, Sheela, give me a piggy back ride!’ Sarah said and jumped onto Sheela’s back.  
‘No, Sarah, whoa!’ Sheela fell and landed heavily onto the ground with Sarah on top of her. Saphira winced at the impact.  
‘We’re trying to get to Relevein Town in one piece, Sarah,’ she reminded Sarah and nudged her off Sheela.   
‘But I want a piggy back ride,’ Sarah pouted.  
‘You’re too big for piggy back rides,’ Sheela moaned as she got up, rubbing her back with a pained groan.  
‘And apart from Xeann, no-one’s strong enough to carry you,’ Saphira said with her hands on her hips ‘You’re…nineteen now? Yes, you’re nineteen, you should grow up and take it like an adult.’ Sarah whined and sulked moodily while following Xeann, kicking stones on the way.  
‘It’s not fair, Amber gets a piggy back ride…’ she muttered darkly.


	32. The Crater

‘Now that’s a big crater,’ Sarah commented as the girls reached Relevein Town and looked up at the massive dark green wall that shadowed over the small village. Amber slipped off Xeann as she stared up at the large wall that was dotted with caves and caverns. It looked way too high for Amber’s comfort to scale up. Xeann sighed nostalgically while looking around thoughtfully. Most of the buildings had been boarded up and there didn’t seem to be any signs of anyone living in the town anymore. But Xeann could smell the different pulses of people living around here. She smiled warmly when they turned a corner to a different street.  
‘That’s where my water broke when I was carrying your Aunt Garnet,’ she giggled while pointing to the corner of the street they were on ‘I was immediately rushed to the medical centre to give birth to her.’  
‘Eww! Nan, I don’t need to know about you giving birth to my aunts and uncles!’ Vienna whined and plugged her ears.  
‘I wonder if Xoraan still had his sweet shop before the Nightmare Blanket,’ Xeann hummed and began running down the street ‘He was your Uncle Christopher’s father, Vienna!’  
‘I don’t care about how many men you’ve slept with either!’ Vienna snarled at her as Amber followed her curiously.  
‘I want sweets!’ Sarah exclaimed and began running after Xeann.  
‘I don’t think there are actually any sweets left, Sarah,’ Sheela mumbled as she and Saphira trailed after them ‘And if there were, I wouldn’t eat them.’ Xeann stopped at a quaint little shop where the sign was on the dusty floor. Vienna looked around while she bent down and dusted it clean.  
‘Where is everyone?’ she asked ‘It’s like a ghost town.’  
‘Oh they’re probably around,’ Xeann shrugged ‘Keep your guard up, we might get attacked by scavengers.’ Sheela peered over Xeann’s shoulder curiously as she dusted the sign down so the words were legible.  
‘Xoraan’s Candy Corner,’ she read out loud and Sarah began kicking the boarded door down ‘Sarah!’  
‘I want sweets!’ Xeann rolled her eyes and stood up.  
‘Well, we might as well see if we can scavenge anything from this place,’ she said and helped Sarah take the boards down. Amber watched as they tore the boards away and entered the old sweet shop. She stepped in carefully and looked around at the dusty shelves and empty jars that littered the place. Sarah began looking through the jars to see if there were any sweets left while Xeann pried the till open.  
‘What if your Xoraan is still here?’ Saphira asked as she began sniffing around with Vienna.  
‘Well, he’s a werewolf so it’s likely,’ Xeann shrugged as she rummaged through the bronze coins, avoiding any contact with any silver coins that could be hiding amongst them ‘Unless he got himself killed in some petty battle like most werewolves… Then again he wasn’t one to pick a fight with anyone…’  
‘Wait, Uncle Christopher is half werewolf?’ Vienna perked up at the mention of werewolf and Xeann simpered.  
‘Now you’re interested,’ she smirked ‘Yes, Xoraan was a werewolf who happened to come across me when I was going into heat.’  
‘We don’t want to know!’ Vienna and Saphira said together. Xeann giggled and shrugged.  
‘Long story, short, we agreed to have a little get together every night until I left the school,’ she shrugged ‘It was rather exhilarating, my parents would have died in shock if they had still been alive.’  
‘Wow, Nan, so you really don’t hate werewolves?’ Vienna raised a sceptical eyebrow.  
‘Really? What was your first clue?’ Xeann raised an eyebrow in a similar fashion to her granddaughter.  
‘Well you keep hissing at werewolves and you’re a full traditional vampire so of course I would assume you hate werewolves!’ Vienna snarled.  
‘It’s called instincts, Vienna,’ Xeann rolled her eyes ‘Your mother has the same problem and so do your aunts and most of your uncles.’ Vienna whined and sat down with hunched shoulders.  
‘May I ask about the age gap?’ Sheela asked while scooping some dust up with her finger.  
‘Fifteen years,’ Xeann grimaced ‘To be fair I was twenty-three years old then so it was fine by me.’  
‘But why didn’t you marry him?’ Vienna frowned and tilted her head ‘He sounds like a nice guy and you have that glint in your eye when you talk about him.’ Xeann blushed and giggled, fanning herself.  
‘Well he sort of already had a fiancée,’ she said sheepishly.  
‘What?!’ Sarah yelped as she dropped a jar and turned to Xeann ‘You had an affair? I can’t believe that!’  
‘Oh, I’ve engaged in many affairs, my dear,’ Xeann scoffed ‘Although this one was my first admittedly.’  
‘So how come you only bore him one child if you slept with him every night?’ Saphira asked with a curious frown.  
‘He wasn’t that fertile,’ Xeann shrugged ‘I wonder if he ever managed to get his fiancée pregnant.’  
‘Um, Xeann?’ Amber stood by the stairs at the back of the shop. ‘There’s someone here.’ Xeann blinked as she went towards Amber when her nose caught scent of an unfamiliar werewolf and she turned her lips up into a snarl. She ran upstairs and saw a brown injured wolf, standing in front of two young and helpless looking pups that were curled up behind her. Xeann held her hands out calmly.  
‘I’m not going to hurt you,’ she said calmly as the rest of the girls came up ‘Sheela, do you have any water left?’  
‘Just about,’ Sheela held up the gourd and Xeann took it from her. Xeann passed the gourd over to the wolf. It sniffed the gourd warily before taking it and setting it in front of her pups so they could drink it. The girls froze as the werewolf turned into her human form and looked at them.  
‘What are you doing here?’ she asked, her grey eyes glaring at Xeann warily ‘Stay back, or I’ll gorge your eyes out…’  
‘Oh, we just happened to be in the neighbourhood and I was just looking around,’ Xeann shrugged ‘I used to come here when I was a young adult for the drama school and I often came here with a group of friends to get sweets.’ The woman got up, her left leg bleeding, and looked up at Xeann.  
‘Why are you here?’ she asked and Xeann put on a solemn face.  
‘We’ve been trying to track the Queen down as a group,’ Xeann said as she gestured to herself and the other girls ‘We believe she may be near here. My name is Xeann by the way.’ The werewolf sniffed her hand and snarled.  
‘I don’t shake hands with vampires,’ she said and snapped at Xeann’s hand. Xeann pulled away sharply and glared at her.  
‘Well that’s very civilized,’ she remarked sarcastically and gave Saphira and Vienna the eyebrow. Saphira slowly approached the woman and held her hand out.  
‘Saphira,’ she introduced herself.  
‘Elzamia,’ the werewolf shook her hand ‘My pups and I are famished. Do you have food?’  
‘We have but it’s monster flesh mostly,’ Saphira grimaced ‘Unless your pups will eat Abnormal Creature flesh?’ Elzamia hesitated and sighed.  
‘We can’t afford to be fussy now,’ she admitted and Amber handed her some flesh from a small bag she carried. The girls sat around her, aside from Xeann who chose to stand at the back of the small bedroom, sharing the meat amongst them.  
‘So are you Xoraan’s wife?’ Xeann asked carefully and Elzamia growled her.  
‘Who wants to know?’ she snarled and Xeann held her hands up in alarm.  
‘I was a frequent customer and got to know Xoraan very well,’ Xeann explained calmly ‘I knew he was engaged and I never actually met the fiancée…’  
‘Yes, I’m his wife, happy?’ Elzamia snarled and nosed her pups as they went back to sleep. Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘So where is he now?’ she dared to ask.  
‘How should I know? He just upped and left the day the Queen took over to try and fight her like the rest of the men. I haven’t seen him since.’  
‘And another person who disappeared whilst fighting the Queen,’ Vienna sighed ‘I wonder how many people went to try and fight her…’  
‘Ever since your husband left, has anything out of the ordinary happened here?’ Sheela asked and Elzamia snorted.  
‘I’ll tell you what’s been happening,’ she grumbled ‘Those soldiers just barge in here and try to snatch my pups! Every day I am hiding from them and taking injuries just to defend my little ones. Although, I haven’t seen a soldier for a long time.’  
‘Probably because of our little assassin here,’ Xeann patted Amber’s head ‘She’s been at them ever since day one.’  
‘At my village I would have made a mass grave of them if I wasn’t so weak,’ Amber grumbled.  
‘I don’t think they’re actually real people though,’ Saphira hummed ‘Sheela, are there such things as metal golems?’  
‘Yes but that takes a hell of a lot of magic,’ Sheela grimaced.  
‘A hell of a lot? The soldiers must be controlled by Nightmare and Horror then.’ Xeann grumbled and folded her arms sulkily.  
‘Have you seen the Queen around at all?’ Vienna asked and Elzamia shook her head.  
‘Travellers rarely come by nowadays,’ she explained ‘I was surprised by your appearance, I thought you’d be part of the Queen’s court.’  
‘Please,’ Amber scoffed and folded her arms defiantly ‘The day I join the Queen’s forces is when Hell freezes over.’  
‘Well if the Queen isn’t here then where could she be?’ Sheela asked with a disappointed look while looking at the rest of the group ‘She said that Iris and Cecilia would be here and that there might be someone here for you, Amber.’ Amber froze and thought back to the Queen’s words.  
‘Did she?’ she asked softly. She had been more focused on fighting the Queen, not finding anyone that she held dear. Maybe her father was here? Or Jasper, maybe Jasper could be here? Or was the Queen just playing around with her?  
‘Are you sure she said the Cecilia and Iris would be here?’ Sarah asked with a frown ‘She really did say Relevein Town and not any other town?’  
‘Positive,’ Sheela nodded ‘I’m sure of it!’  
‘No, she didn’t say that,’ Amber suddenly said ‘She said to look around Relevein Town. Not necessarily in Relevein Town…’  
‘The crater,’ Xeann said ‘It’s a perfect place to hide. It’s hard to get into the crater and if the rumours are true, it has a lot of defences.’  
‘And whatever killed the Flaregona came from the crater,’ Vienna perked up ‘Nan, we need to get in!’  
‘I don’t think so, young lady,’ Xeann said with a stern look ‘I’ll scale the crater and check if the Queen really is there. Then we can find a safer way to get to her.’  
‘Aw, Nan!’ Vienna whined and Xeann folded her arms sternly.  
‘No.’  
‘Please!!’  
‘No.’ Vienna snarled and turned her back on her moodily.  
‘You’re so boring,’ she grumbled.  
‘No, I’m just being a good grandmother,’ Xeann said with her nose in the air ‘I’ll go and start climbing now, I’m not sure when I’ll get back but wait a week and try to come after me after then perhaps.’  
‘You’d better be safe this time, Nan,’ Vienna said huffily ‘I don’t want to have to carry your body all the way back to Eventide Town so we have to bury you there as per your request.’ Xeann smiled and ruffled her hair.  
‘I’m touched that you consider my wishes even in a dire situation like this,’ she said and turned to the girls ‘Now you can hunt for meat from nearby monsters I believe and Saphira can bring snow to provide you girls with water.  
‘Hold up, I can’t just summon snow whenever the feeling strikes me,’ Saphira frowned at Xeann.  
‘Well get plenty of rest and eat well,’ Xeann said ‘I don’t mean to pressure you but because it is very hard to come by water nowadays, you’re our current water source.’ Saphira scowled and folded her arms grumpily. Xeann smiled and went out of the sweet shop.

***

For a seemingly abandoned ghost town, Xeann managed to scavenge some rope and hooks to help her climb the crater. She had considered going through the caverns to see if she could get into the crater through them but she thought it would be better to go to the top so she could have a bird’s eye view. Also, who knows what could be lurking in those caves? Xeann could walk into a death trap without knowing it. As she walked through Relevein Town, she found herself reliving old memories. Like the different places where her water had broken and where she had met the fathers. Xeann giggled as she stopped at the abandoned pharmacy.  
‘This is where Abatine and I met,’ she sighed wistfully.  
‘Abatine?’ Xeann turned to see a young woman with long silver hair and bright green eyes approach her from the alley. She had a ragged shawl covering most of her face and Xeann tilted her head.  
‘Yes, did you know him, dear?’ she asked.  
‘He’s my father,’ the woman explained ‘He lives in Zugaite Village…’  
‘Ah-ha!’ Xeann snapped her fingers and giggled ‘I knew he would! He always talked about it.’  
‘How do you know him? Are you one of his ex-pupils?’ Xeann blushed and shook her head.  
‘No, Abatine was one of my lovers when I went to the drama school,’ she explained and held her hand out ‘I’m Xeann.’  
‘Sylvia,’ the young woman stepped back warily ‘You went to school with him?’  
‘Yes,’ Xeann took her hand back ‘I’m a vampire so that’s why my age hasn’t differed since fifty-six years ago when I met your father. You know, we have a daughter who looks a bit like you.’  
‘You had a child?’ Sylvia stepped back again ‘Why didn’t you marry before the birth?’  
‘Oh, sweetie, I’m the Vampire Mother,’ Xeann grimaced ‘I already had a husband looking after my children all the way in Eventide Town. I did offer for him to join our marriage but he strongly believed in having a real family. So he made me choose.’  
‘And you just left him like that?’ Sylvia looked disgusted.  
‘I loved both of them, I didn’t want to have to choose either of them! I wanted both and I could easily have had the option of having them both but Abatine just didn’t like the idea of being committed to a woman who was being committed to more than one person.’ Sylvia sighed and shook her head.  
‘I’m sorry, I just feel really sorry for him,’ she shrugged and Xeann bowed her head.  
‘Well, dear, I would love to stay and chat,’ she said and wrapped the rope around her shoulder ‘But I need to climb the crater.’ Sylvia looked at her with alarmed eyes.  
‘You’re crazy,’ she murmured and Xeann shrugged.  
‘Not the first time someone’s called me that,’ Xeann smiled and began heading over towards the crater.


	33. Reunion

Amber felt restless again. Xeann had told them to stay put again while she went ahead and Amber didn’t like it one bit. She couldn’t see any monsters in sight to fight and she didn’t like Elzamia’s negative aura. It wasn’t a good idea to be around a mother werewolf when she’s injured and she has pups. Amber was very uncomfortable in being around her so she took regular walks along the abandoned streets early in the day and often stayed out for the whole day if she got lucky in finding any food and water. Her walks stopped at the crater where she could see Xeann’s progress in scaling the crater wall. She didn’t keep track of the days but eventually Xeann’s climbing form disappeared. What Amber pondered about the most was how on Ethylias could she climb vertically with high heels on?  
It was a very hot and dry day when Amber went out walking again to get away from Elzamia’s bad morning temper. She spun an ice cube from Saphira around in her mouth to keep herself hydrated. She scowled at the foul taste. Artificial water wasn’t exactly the best tasting water there is and it was such an effort for Saphira to construct one ice cube with the lack of natural water. So she used spit and sweat to help form ice cubes which was awful to taste but it kept the girls alive. Amber honestly didn’t know how much longer she could go on with these ice cubes. They were salty and disgusting, Amber just shivered in revulsion at the thought of them.  
Amber stopped at the crater wall and stared up at the crater, nearly falling over backwards as she craned her neck up. Her scalp felt really sweaty and uncomfortable so she took her bunches out. She jumped when she felt the sweaty ends tickle her back and realised that she hadn’t cut her hair at all since the Nightmare Blanket came out. She carefully swept it over her shoulder and combed it with her fingers thoughtfully. It reached past her developing breasts now, Amber hadn’t felt so different before. She didn’t like the fact that she was growing up under these conditions. She clenched her fists and glared at the ground silently. This wasn’t the way she had planned her life. It just didn’t feel fair for Florence to appear out of the blue and ruin everyone’s plans for the future. She was shaken out of her thoughts when a little figure crashed into her and dropped an empty wooden bucket onto her foot.  
‘Ow!’ she yelped and jumped away.  
‘Ah! I’m s-s-so s-s-sorry!!!’ Amber stood on one leg to rub her foot tenderly. She then froze when she heard a familiar stammer in the little boy’s voice. She looked at the boy and saw that he had short silver hair like her father.  
‘Jasper?’ she whispered as the boy picked up the bucket after dropping it. He began running away and Amber tackled him to the ground.  
‘P-Please! D-D-Don’t hurt m-m-me!’ he stammered as he covered his eyes and began shaking like a leaf ‘I didn’t m-mean t-to crash into y-you like that!’ Amber hugged him tightly to her chest when she recognized the short white hair and got a glimpse of his jade green eyes.  
‘Jasper, it is you,’ she croaked and began sobbing into his shoulder ‘Oh, Jasper, I’m so glad you’re safe!’ The boy in her arms wriggled and tried to get out of her grip. Amber just tightened her grip to make sure he didn’t escape.  
‘B-But I’m n-not J-Jasper!’ he squeaked.  
‘Yes you are!’ Amber turned him around so he could see her. Jasper stared at her for a few seconds and slowly relaxed.  
‘Amber?’ he whispered ‘Amber, is it r-really you?’ Jasper sniffed as he began tearing up and hugged Amber tightly. Amber hugged him back tightly, gasping when she felt how thin and frail he was.  
‘Jasper, you’re so…’ she whispered and Jasper began crying loudly.  
‘I thought you were d-d-dead!’ he wailed ‘When Momma and I were being dragged away, we s-s-saw them hit you and b-b-beat you when you were on the ground! Then this man purchased me and tried to do w-weird things to me! I-I’m s-so s-scared that M-Momma m-might b-be d-doing something w-weird t-too!’  
‘Oh, Jasper,’ Amber cradled him to her body ‘It’s OK, I’m here, don’t cry. Mother is fine, she’s safe, you don’t need to worry. Stop those tears, your big sister is here now and she’s going to save you…’  
‘I r-ran away though!’ Jasper sniffed and rubbed his nose ‘I ran f-far away from h-him when I got the opportunity. This old l-lady is looking after me now and I’m just trying to find water to bring back to her.’  
‘Do you know of a water source near here?’ Amber asked as she let go of Jasper and set him down in front of her. Jasper sniffed and nodded, his eyes red from crying. Amber smiled and cleaned his face up. ‘Well let’s go and get some water then,’ she said as she stood up and helped him back up onto his feet ‘I have some meat on me so we can share it with the old lady.’  
‘Nuh uh,’ Jasper shook his head ‘I’m a v-vegetarian, remember?’  
‘This really isn’t the time to be fussy, Jasper,’ Amber narrowed her eyes at him ‘And it’s monster meat anyway, we can’t really find any proper normal meat.’ Jasper hunched his shoulders and nodded shyly. Amber smiled down at him. ‘Still, it’s good to know that you’re still the same, little brother.’ She took his hand, picked the bucket up and let him lead her to the water source where he fetched his water.

***

Xeann had lost all track of time when as she climbed the crater wall. Her mind was solely focused on climbing the large dark green crater wall. She struggled over caves and slippery patches with nothing but rope to help her up the massive crater wall. Eventually it got very cold and Xeann pulled her hood up to keep her face protected. Her blood supply was running low and she was exhausted by the time she reached the snowy top. She scrambled up onto the top and panted for breath, exhausted. She looked down and shuffled away from the edge with a gasp, clutching the ground in terror. She had only realised how much she was afraid of heights and she hadn’t realised just how far up she was. She lay down, closing her eyes and gasping for air. She eventually steadied her breathing and rested for a few minutes. When she opened her eyes, she jumped to her feet when she saw a tall hooded figure towering over her and brought her blades out.  
‘You are trespassing,’ he said as he brought out two indigo swords ‘I must eliminate you.’  
‘Yeah? We’ll just see about that,’ Xeann swung her blades at him and the two of them clashed. Xeann had quick reflexes but this young man was even quicker. She criss-crossed her blades, made swerving movements with her arms and tried to aim for his stomach to cut it open. He executed swift bold strokes, aiming for her shoulders to try and severe her arms off. Xeann narrowed her eyes as she saw how he didn’t slip or slide on the icy surface that they stood upon. This one looked resilient and she wasn’t going to let him cut her down now she had gotten this far. Her attacks became more frenzied, determined to knock him down first. This did lead to her being wide open to his attacks more often though. The hooded man caught onto the pattern of her attacks and took his opportunity to swing at Xeann when she stumbled past him. Xeann turned around and blocked the attack clumsily. She squeaked when she slipped and fell flat on her back. Her hood slipped and she sat up with a groan, glaring at the indigo blade that came dangerously close to her face. She slowly looked up at the man who froze in position.  
‘Mummy?’ he whispered and Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘Dear, I’m considered to be a lot of children’s mother, or in your case ‘Mummy’, and I am very flattered to have triggered your memory of your ‘Mummy’ before you kill me,’ she said maliciously.  
‘No, Mummy.’ The man pulled his hood down, revealing his features. ‘It’s me. Don’t you recognize me?’ He held out a hand for Xeann to take. Xeann glared at his gloved hand and warily took it, her blade at the ready to strike him if he tried anything funny. He gently pulled her to her feet and Xeann carefully studied his features. His right eye was blood red and his left eye was bright blue. He had short dark purple hair to his shoulders and pale skin. He held her hand tightly as he stared at her expectantly. Xeann’s eyes slowly widened.  
‘Cedric?’ she whispered as she slowly lowered her blade ‘Cedric, is it really you?’ Cedric smiled widely.  
‘Mummy,’ he whispered back and Xeann dropped her weapons, reaching up to cup his cheeks.  
‘My, you’ve grown up into such a handsome man,’ she sniffed as tears pooled in her eyes.  
‘You haven’t aged a day,’ Cedric said as he reached out to cup her cheek ‘You look just like the same woman who gave birth to me…’  
‘Please, dear, I’m a vampire. It happens. You must have hit your aging stopping point when you were twenty.’  
‘Actually, twenty five,’ Cedric shrugged ‘Dad made sure of that.’  
‘What?! He made you look older than me?! That bloody son of a…!’ Xeann began cursing, swearing and shouting at Nightmare as she turned her heel and paced up and down the crater top irritably. Cedric smiled to himself as he watched her rant out her stress and frustration. She gasped as her eyes burned and she fumbled for her gourd of blood, drinking quickly.  
‘Mummy, take my blood,’ Cedric urged as he took off his glove.  
‘No!’ Xeann said with wide alarmed eyes and wagged her finger sternly at him ‘No, dear, Demonic and Divine blood is lethal for vampires and any other creatures that live on Ethylias.’  
‘Is it?’ Cedric frowned as he pulled his glove back on.  
‘Oh, yes,’ Xeann nodded ‘Trust me, I used Divine blood to kill my parents when you were still just a child. I read up about it beforehand. Demonic blood poisons those who drink it whilst Divine blood drives them crazy. I did not have any access to Demonic blood when I was twenty though.’   
‘Where did you get the Divine blood from then?’ Cedric asked with a frown ‘You’d need to have an angel to take their blood and they aren’t known to do that willingly.’   
‘I had my ways when I was young,’ Xeann smirked and winked ‘Are there any clean sources of blood around here?’  
‘Well, there are plenty of creatures inside the crater that you’ll be able to feed from,’ Cedric said as he pointed to inside the crater. Xeann frowned.  
‘Well, not the best kind of…’ She froze when she turned and took a good look inside the crater. Inside, life flourished everywhere. Clean rivers ran amongst the lush green grass fields and flower patches. Xeann saw trees full of life and normal animals from squirrels to deer prancing around. In the centre of the crater stood a large tower, casting a shadow over a strip of the small haven. Xeann felt her jaw drop as she smelt the fresh plants and sighed despairingly, shaking her head sadly. Cedric grimaced softly.  
‘The Queen wants the best for her daughter,’ he murmured as Xeann’s body shook with rage.  
‘I want the best for my children, why does she have to be so selfish?’ she growled and clenched her fists ‘How dare she just live in this paradise whilst other mothers and children suffer from her soldiers and separation!’  
‘It’s a dictatorship, Mummy,’ Cedric shrugged ‘Life isn’t fair on this planet anymore.’ Xeann nibbled her lip while sighing. ‘Which reminds me, would you like to join the Queen’s forces with me and Father?’  
‘No, never as long as I live,’ Xeann snapped at him ‘Why are you just being blindly controlled by your Father?’  
‘I don’t really have a choice,’ Cedric shrugged hopelessly and Xeann scoffed, waving a dismissive hand.  
‘Nonsense!’ she retorted ‘Every child of mine has a choice in their life, whether it may be their sexuality or their choice in career! I’m officially stealing you back from your father.’ She stepped forward and cupped her hands around her mouth. ‘You hear that, Nightmare?!’ she bellowed into the crater where her voice echoed ‘I’m taking my son back whether you like it or not! You had no right to separate us and I will make you suffer for all the pain you have caused me!’ Cedric tilted his head and Xeann grabbed his hand. ‘You’re going to lead me to that tower and you’re going to be turning against the Queen,’ she said firmly.  
‘But Father won’t like that,’ Cedric hunched his shoulders.  
‘This isn’t about what your Father likes or dislikes,’ Xeann said with narrowed eyes ‘This is about what your loving Mummy wants.’ Cedric looked uncertain and Xeann sighed tiredly. ‘Come on!’ Cedric yelped as she pulled him sharply and they went skidding down the slope into the crater.

***

‘This is a rather healthy looking water source,’ Amber raised an eyebrow as Jasper led her into a cave of the crater and showed her a waterfall falling from a hole from the top of the cave and falling down another hole at the bottom. She stuck the bucket out and began filling it with the water.  
‘I-I just h-happened to c-come across it when I-I was hiding from that m-man I t-talked about,’ Jasper said as Amber pulled the bucket out and sipped it. Amber’s eyes widened when she tasted it and pulled away.  
‘It’s clean,’ she murmured in surprise ‘No poison, no chemicals, just natural mineral water…’  
‘Is that s-suspicious?’ Jasper asked worriedly and Amber just drank more of the water.  
‘It’s just so refreshing!’ she exclaimed and refilled the bucket ‘Saphira’s icicles always contained something dodgy in them and she is always so exhausted after making them…’ Amber drank another bucketful before refilling it. ‘Come on, let’s take this to the lady you’re staying with and I can bring the girls here,’ she said and let Jasper have some water too ‘But why is such a clean water source here when it’s supposed to be Hell on Ethylias?’  
‘I don’t know, I guess the Queen wants s-some of us to s-survive,’ Jasper shrugged ‘But water alone is great to have but there’s hardly any food around. I’m starving for a coconut or an apple…’  
‘The only sufficient way to get food is to hunt monsters and collect their meat, I’m afraid,’ Amber sighed as she took Jasper’s hand and led him out of the cave ‘I’ll drop off some monster meat with this old lady you’ve mentioned so she might be able to cook it or you’re going to have to eat it raw.  
‘I told you, I’m a v-vegetarian!’ Jasper interjected.  
‘And I told you that now isn’t a good time to be fussy!’ Amber snapped at him and sighed, hugging him tightly with one arm ‘I’m still so glad that you’re safe.’ She gave him another squeeze before letting him take her over to the old lady’s home that he was staying with.


	34. Xeann VS Florence

Cedric watched quietly as Xeann sunk her teeth into her third rabbit to drink it dry. He heard her thirsty gulps of blood and a satisfied sigh when she dropped the dead body next to its friends.  
‘Rabbit blood has never tasted so good,’ she moaned and licked her blood stained lips.  
‘Are you satisfied, Mummy?’ Cedric asked with a curious tilt of the head.  
‘Yes, I am,’ Xeann lay back in the grass and breathed happily ‘It’s good to indulge when you’ve been deprived for over a year.’ She closed her eyes and smiled. Cedric smiled back and snuggled into her arms, hugging her tightly whilst resting his head upon her bosom. Xeann ran her fingers through his hair with a sigh. ‘So what was it like living with your Father?’  
‘It was uncomfortable,’ Cedric said as he sighed softly under Xeann’s touch ‘Father would make me torture the condemned and experience sex with them.’  
‘Aw, my poor baby,’ Xeann cooed and pressed a kiss onto his forehead ‘Don’t worry, Mummy’s here.’ Cedric closed his eyes whilst Xeann looked up at the tower. ‘Cedric, can you get me any closer to the tower?’  
‘Sure I can,’ Cedric said as he slowly opened his eyes ‘In fact, I think the Queen is out with her daughter right now.’  
‘Out of curiosity, what did the Queen name her?’ Xeann asked as they both stood up.  
‘I wasn’t told that information,’ Cedric shrugged helplessly.  
‘Really? Your Father won’t let you know the name of your younger half-sister?’ Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘How do you know she’s my half-sister?’ Cedric frowned.  
‘Please, if the Queen doesn’t have a King then clearly her right hand man, Nightmare, has impregnated her.’  
‘Uncle Horror might have impregnated her…’  
‘Did Horror impregnate her?’  
‘…No.’ Xeann smiled and kissed Cedric’s nose.  
‘Come on, let’s go to the tower,’ she said and led him towards the tower.  
As they walked through the beautiful forest, Xeann took her time to examine her surroundings. There were so many woodland animals and so many different plants Xeann hadn’t seen in over a year. It brought a warm smile to her face as she smelt in the fresh air and listened to the animals. She ran her hand amongst the bushes as she kept walking in the direction of the tower. Cedric trailed behind her, a content smile on his face as he watched Xeann hum merrily to herself. Xeann eventually stopped when she saw the clear blue sky above them and turned to Cedric.  
‘The Nightmare Blanket isn’t around the crater,’ she said and Cedric nodded ‘Are there any other places where there’s a hole in the blanket?’  
‘There are small holes over some cities and towns that have agreed to co-operate with the Queen,’ Cedric nodded ‘Those who work for the Queen are gained the luxuries of having natural sunlight and normal conditions of that area.’  
‘Well who’d have thought?’ Xeann hummed ‘People actually have agreed to work for her.’  
‘We’re here.’ Xeann paused as they stood behind a couple of trees. Xeann slowly climbed the tree she was behind and crawled onto one of the thicker branches. She pushed away the leaves gently and saw that she was above a large field of forget-me-nots. In the middle of that field was Florence with a small six month old baby in her arms. Xeann could hear Florence singing to her daughter whilst tossing her in the air. The baby giggled and gurgled happily. Xeann could see that the baby had a fine layer of dark blue hair over her tiny head, confirming her suspicions that it was Nightmare’s daughter.  
‘So that’s your little half-sister and you don’t even know her name,’ Xeann whispered to Cedric who remained to stay on the ground. Cedric shrugged helplessly as Xeann looked around more. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Nightmare standing by the entrance of the tower with his signature grin, watching Florence with his bright blue eyes. She scanned the area more to see Horror with a younger looking woman who had her long sleek silver tied up into a tight braid, flirting with her shamelessly. Rolling her eyes, she continued scanning the area. Her lips curled up into a snarl when she smelt a werewolf and saw Cody nearby. He was just relaxing in the sun in his tame wolf form, his brilliant golden fur glistening in the sunlight. Xeann averted her eyes to avoid being blinded.  
‘Oi, you!’ Xeann looked around in alarm and yelped when someone landed on her back. The branch she was clinging onto snapped and Xeann screamed as she fell and landed in the field with a loud thump.  
‘Iris, you need to be gentler!’ another voice said as the person got off Xeann’s back.  
‘Iris?’ Xeann perked up and glanced up at the young woman with long black hair and deep purple eyes ‘Iris Miura?’  
‘Who wants to know?’ Iris raised an eyebrow and popped her bubble gum that she had been chewing and blowing.  
‘Your sisters are worried sick!’ Xeann said as she got up to her feet ‘I believe you had another sister named…Cecilia?’  
‘Yes, that’s me!’ a young woman with long white curly hair and bright golden eyes ran over with a soft giggle ‘Hiya! What are you doing here?’  
‘Cecilia, you’re not supposed to be friendly to intruders,’ Iris sighed and rolled her eyes.  
‘Aw, but I haven’t seen someone new in such a long time!’ Cecilia pouted and hugged Iris tightly.  
‘Well don’t get so friendly with a hot woman like this!’ Iris snarled and looked away ‘You know I don’t like it when you make new friends!’  
‘Aw, there’s no need to be jealous,’ Cecilia smiled warmly and kissed the corner of Iris’s mouth ‘You know I’ll always love you and only you.’ Xeann grimaced sympathetically when she saw the light blush across Iris’s cheeks and took a deep breath.  
‘Let me guess, you two ran away from home so your parents wouldn’t find out about the incest lesbian relationship between you two,’ she said.  
‘Who wants to know?’ Iris snarled at her and Xeann raised an eyebrow.  
‘That is a very rude attitude you have there, young lady,’ she retorted.  
‘Well if it isn’t our little birdie!’ Horror exclaimed when he saw Xeann. Xeann snarled at him and brought her blades out when everyone jumped to their feet when they acknowledged her presence. Florence blinked when she saw Xeann and smiled, standing up with her daughter in her arms.  
‘This is an honour, Miss Murphy,’ she said and curtseyed to Xeann ‘I am very happy to be graced by your presence this fine day.’  
‘The feeling is mutual,’ Xeann said curtly as Cedric stepped forward.  
‘Ooo~!’ Nightmare exclaimed and cackled when he saw Cedric ‘Has little Cedric found his Mumsie?’   
‘You no longer have any responsibility over my son,’ Xeann snarled ‘Now that you have another ‘experiment’ to play with, I won’t let you have my son any longer!’ Florence reacted sharply by stepping back and cradling her daughter close to her, glaring at Xeann. Nightmare grinned and mocked fear.  
‘What are you going to do, dearie?’ he asked ‘Are you going to…kill me?’  
‘With my holy water, I hope so!’ Xeann snarled and ran forward to attack Nightmare. She froze and skidded to a halt when Florence abruptly stood in her path. Florence smirked and unzipped her dress down to reveal that she was wearing a dark purple tank and matching shorts. Xeann saw that her daughter was in the other young woman’s arms by the tower. She stepped back warily as Florence stepped out of her dress to show off her dark purple ballet shoes. Florence smirked and unsheathed dark purple claws from her knuckles.  
‘I want to fight you,’ she said and grinned widely at Xeann ‘Please fight me.’ Xeann’s eyes widened when she saw a familiar glint from Florence’s mouth. Studying her further, Xeann covered her mouth with wide eyes.  
‘You’re a turned vampire,’ she said and narrowed her eyes ‘You’re underage! That is punishable by silver whip!’  
‘It’s not illegal when a demon has a hand in it, dearie,’ Nightmare grinned and wagged his finger at Xeann.  
‘You…’ Xeann snarled at Nightmare then turned to Florence ‘I accept your challenge.’ Florence’s eyes lit up happily and she clapped gleefully.  
‘Oh good! I’ve heard so much about your technique from Horror and Nightmare!’ she grinned and widened her stance, ready to fight Xeann ‘Come and get me.’  
Xeann narrowed her eyes and charged towards Florence. Florence giggled and pirouetted out of the way, making Xeann screech to a halt. Florence turned sharply and attacked Xeann by raking her claws down Xeann’s shoulder when the vampire was disorientated. Xeann snarled in pain and swiped one blade at the teenager. She stumbled as she got hallucinations of the deaths of her children and shook her head to get rid of them, slashing her other blade at Florence to try and distract herself from the visions. Florence leapt out of the way and giggled, pirouetting on the spot.  
‘Come and get me, Xeann,’ she challenged as her bright magenta eyes glowed eerily ‘I’m waiting…’  
‘You’re a very arrogant lady,’ Xeann growled and Florence just simpered.  
‘Why thank you,’ she curtseyed gracefully.  
Xeann narrowed her eyes and stood tall. She took her cloak off and let it fall to her feet. She snapped her utility belt off next so she was in just her bodice, trousers and boots. She brought her blades up and ran towards Florence again, slightly quicker now without the heavy weight. Florence bent her knees and leapt over Xeann with a smirk. Xeann skidded to a halt again and hissed when Florence dug her claws into her back. Everything became distorted for Xeann as the claws dug deep into Xeann’s flesh.  
‘This is so disappointing,’ Florence sighed as Xeann looked over her shoulder to glare at the shorter vampire ‘I was so hoping to have such a challenging fight after all these months of having to use magic and making sure I didn’t miscarry my child.’  
‘I’m sorry but I never learned how to dance ballet,’ Xeann growled in distain towards her ‘But I did learn to tango.’ She quickly pulled her back out of Florence’s claws and turned swiftly, high-kicking Florence in the face. Florence grunted in pain and stumbled slightly from the sudden attack whilst Xeann fell to her hands and knees as everything rushed back undistorted. Florence giggled to herself and clapped her hands.  
‘Bravo, Xeann,’ she grinned ‘I knew you were just getting warmed up!’  
Xeann glared up at her, panting heavily before taking her gloves off and spitting in her hand. She smeared her saliva on the claw marks on her back before placing her gloves and blades down and got up, readying her fists for more fighting. Florence grinned and ran towards Xeann with her claws. Xeann suddenly grabbed Florence’s right wrist and jerked her arm up sharply so their bodies were pressed together. Florence blinked in surprise as Xeann grabbed her left wrist quickly and sharply kneed her in the belly. Florence grunted in pain and Xeann held her wrists together and began spinning her round and round until she finally let her go and sent Florence flying over the trees of the forest next to the forget-me-not field. Nightmare and Horror gasped in mock wonder and clapped her with grins.  
‘Simply wonderful, dearie,’ Nightmare cackled.  
‘Encore, encore!’ Horror jeered and Xeann narrowed her eyes at them, her fist simply itching to punch them in their faces. Florence came back quickly, pulling some branches and leaves out of her hair and grinned at Xeann.  
‘I didn’t expect any less from the great Xeann,’ she giggled and Xeann brought her fists up again to fight her ‘Let’s kick it up a notch!’  
Xeann’s eyes widened as Florence suddenly disappeared from view and growled in pain when she felt claws digging into her side. She turned her head sharply towards the side as everything became distorted in her vision again. She saw Florence’s wide smirk and heard the cries of her children. They were calling to her, telling her to come back home and Xeann saw visions of them getting killed by soldiers behind Florence. Her eyes were wide in terror as the claws dug deeper and deeper into her skin until finally she collapsed to the ground. The claws slipped out of her body as she did and she heard the jeers and cheers from Nightmare and Horror. She looked up at Florence’s smug face and snarled at her in contempt. Her hands felt the familiar handles of her blades and Xeann gripped them tightly on instinct. Florence poised her claws above her head and went to claw at Xeann’s face. Xeann was quicker though. She used all her strength to slash her blades across Florence’s face. There was a shriek of concern as Florence gasped in shock as the force of Xeann’s blades threw her back and she landed in the forget-me-nots, blood covering her face. Xeann scrambled to her feet and pressed a hand to her wound in her side tightly as she looked down at Florence with laboured breathing.  
‘Get her back inside!’ the young woman with Florence’s daughter shouted and Cody rushed to Florence’s side to pick her up and carry her into the tower.  
‘Iris, you know what to do, pumpkin,’ Horror winked at Iris and Cecilia who had been watching from one of the trees. Iris scowled and stood up, her shadow covering Xeann as she did so.  
‘Destiny!’ she shouted and the earth shook at her voice. Xeann stumbled and Cedric rushed to her side to support her.   
‘Mummy, we need to get out of here!’ Cedric shouted over the loud rumbling and began pulling Xeann away.  
‘Why? What’s Destiny?’ Xeann asked as she stood her ground.  
‘No. LXXXVII,’ Cedric explained and Xeann’s eyes widened in a panic ‘Destiny and I don’t know her real name to shut her down.’  
‘Your Father really knows how to inconvenience people,’ Xeann sighed tiredly and yelped when a hand sprouted from the earth. She stepped back warily as a young looking girl with short white hair to her shoulders and neon blue eyes crawled out and stood still in front of them. She was about Xeann’s height but her facial features looked so young, Xeann would say she was about five or six years old.   
‘Destiny!’ Iris shouted to her ‘Kill the Vampire Mother and her eldest son!’ Xeann stood in front of Cedric and watched as Destiny raised her hand up to turn it into a gun.  
‘Oh dear,’ she whispered softly.  
‘Mummy, let’s go!’ Cedric gave Xeann another sharp yank and Xeann ran with him into the forest. Destiny began shooting them and Xeann grunted as her hand was caught by one of the bullets. Cedric dragged her into a shady spot where they were safe from the bullets and Xeann hissed as she pulled the bullet out.  
‘Silver bullets,’ she whispered as her hand began steaming and threw the bullet aside ‘Cedric, is there anywhere that’s safe?’  
‘We have to keep moving every fifteen minutes at least,’ Cedric breathed as he used his cloak to wrap around Xeann’s hand.  
‘No, don’t do that!’ Xeann hissed at him and pulled her injured hand away ‘This wound needs to bleed out for about a minute to get the silver out of my system. Just get me into one of the caves in the crater!’  
‘OK, Mummy,’ Cedric nodded and led her away through the forest. Xeann ran with him, leaving a trail of blood on the grass and leaves behind her.


	35. Destiny

‘Wow, now that’s refreshing,’ Saphira sighed as she and the other girls stood in the cave where the clean waterfall was. She took the next bucket of water and poured it on her, shaking herself out as she handed the bucket to Sheela to fill up so she and Sarah could have a drink. Amber washed her face with the waterfall before peering up at where it was coming down from.   
‘Where is it coming from?’ she asked as Sarah soaked herself with water after Sheela took some sips.  
‘Who knows?’ Saphira peered up too, pressing her hand up against one of the green rock walls to keep herself from slipping ‘Maybe it’s from the crater?’  
‘Wait, do you mean we’re drinking alien water?’ Sarah froze with the bucket over her head. The girls froze before Amber shook her head frantically.  
‘No, I would know if it was abnormal water or not,’ she said ‘I passed the tasting course in assassin training with flying colours.’  
‘Are you sure, Amber?’ Sheela asked as she did a scanning spell over the waterfall ‘You never know, water from another galaxy might taste the same as on this world.’  
‘It can’t be the exact same taste,’ Amber scowled ‘I’ll know if something is not from this world, my father had me taste varieties of poisons in my training, from and out of this world.’  
‘Poisons?’ Vienna’s eyes widened ‘Why aren’t you dead?’  
‘I drank the antidotes as well,’ Amber sighed and rolled her eyes as if it was obvious.  
‘Don’t worry,’ Sheela sighed in relief as her hand lost its light green glow ‘It’s normal water. There aren’t any unidentified chemicals in it or anything.’  
‘Well then where is it coming from?’ Amber asked in frustration and stuck her head out more to look up at the water source.  
‘Amber, watch out!’ Amber squeaked as she slipped and fell down the hole that the water was going into. Saphira made a grab for her but missed and Amber plummeted down into the pool below the waterfall. Before Amber could swim up to the surface, she felt a current grab her and pull her down deeper into the water. She kicked and thrashed about in the current until she saw light. She immediately kicked her legs to reach the surface and took a gulp of air when she reached it. She felt herself drift for a bit and opened her eyes when she felt sunshine. She gasped and swam to the bank of the river that she was now in.  
‘What is this place?’ she whispered to herself.  
She looked around and saw the lush green grass where a herd of deer was grazing and saw butterflies flutter to and fro from flowers of all different colours. She saw trees blooming with life and squirrels gathering nuts from the bushes. She heard birds singing and various baby animals calling for their mothers to be weaned. Amber looked around in awe, some of these plants and creatures she had only seen in books. She also couldn’t recognize some of the plants. It was as if she’d entered a whole new world compared to the world she had been living in for the past year. Amber breathed in the fresh air and sighed. She had never been in such a place that had so much nature in. The only nature she ever saw were the fish in the oasis and the coconut trees. As Amber scanned her surroundings, her breath stilled as she saw a large shadow not far away from her. She slowly looked up and swallowed to herself when she saw one of the Queen’s towers.  
‘Oh, I see,’ she murmured to herself ‘Very clever.’ She turned her head when she heard something splashing behind her and saw Sarah.  
‘Help!’ she spluttered ‘I can’t swim!’  
‘Of course you can’t,’ Amber sighed as she swam over and helped Sarah reach the bank. Sarah sighed in relief as she lay on the grass, drying in the sun. She breathed steadily and wrung her hair out.  
‘I slipped and fell,’ she mumbled sheepishly.  
‘I did too so don’t feel so bad about it,’ Amber mumbled and pulled herself out of the river ‘I think this is where the water’s coming from. Inside the crater.’  
‘But how did this get all here?’ Sarah asked ‘I thought there was nothing but barren land inside craters.’  
‘There normally is if a meteor struck,’ Amber replied as she pulled her hair out of her bunches and wrung it out. The girls looked up when they heard more spluttering and splashing to see that the rest of the girls had followed them down. They swam to the bank and climbed onto the land, sitting next to them.  
‘Wow, I never expected there would actually be a paradise available on this planet anymore,’ Saphira whistled as she stood up and looked around ‘Hey, food!’ She turned into her tame wolf form and bounded towards the deer that began running away from her.  
‘Saphira, wait!’ Vienna called but then gave into her instincts and ran alongside her to catch a deer to eat. Sheela smiled as she wrung her hair out and looked up at the trees.  
‘Sarah, look,’ she smiled softly ‘Nectorlai Apples.’ She pointed above them and Amber craned her head to see light pink apples hanging in the tree above them.  
‘Yahoo!’ Sarah cheered as she jumped up and snapped one off to take a bite. The branch swayed from her actions and another apple fell and landed on top of her head. Amber and Sheela giggled as Sarah whined in pain and rubbed her head sorely. Sheela picked up the Nectorlai Apple that had fallen and used a quick spell to cut it in half. She blinked and looked up at the sky.  
‘Hey, the Nightmare Blanket doesn’t cover this part,’ she whispered as Amber looked up with her curiously.  
‘Well it explains why everything is so…living…’ Sarah said and sunk her teeth into her apple ‘Mmm!!! Tastes so good!’ Sheela smiled warmly at Sarah before offering one half of her apple to Amber.  
‘Here, try it,’ she said as Amber eyed it warily ‘I presume you haven’t had apples before.’  
‘I have just not…pink ones…’ Amber said as she took the half apple and sniffed it curiously. Sheela bit into her apple as Saphira trotted over happily with a faun in her jaws. Vienna snarled and lunged for the fawn and they began fighting over it. Amber slowly took a bite from the Nectorlai Apple and swallowed with a scowl on her face.  
‘You don’t like it?’ Sarah gasped in disbelief as Amber stuck her tongue out and placed the fruit down.  
‘Too sweet,’ she scowled and began spitting to get rid of the taste. Sheela simpered behind her hand as Vienna ripped a leg off Saphira’s faun and ran off, settling down in the shade and gnawing into it. Vienna pricked her ears up when she saw a rabbit’s rotting carcass and wrinkled her nose.  
‘Ew, gross,’ she said and pawed it away. Her eyes widened when she saw familiar puncture holes in the rabbit’s neck and jumped to her feet. ‘Nan’s here!’ Amber turned her head towards Vienna with wide eyes.  
‘Xeann’s here?’ she said and ran over to Vienna ‘For how long?’ Vienna sniffed the rabbit warily and wrinkled her nose.  
‘Ew, its insides are already mushy and gross, yuck,’ she scowled and backed away ‘I would say a couple of days, perhaps a bit longer.’ The girls looked up when they heard a loud boom and saw smoke rising from one of the crater walls. Amber began rushing towards it, the girls trailing behind her. Amber stopped and hid behind one of the large trees when she saw a young tall girl with shoulder length white hair standing in front of the crater wall that now had a massive hole in it. In place of her right hand was a white laser gun, smoking after being fired. The girl looked up and down the crater wall, her movements were like a robot.  
‘Targets have moved,’ she said in a metallic voice and turned around, Amber saw that she had a scanner covering her eyes ‘Must continue mission.’ Amber watched closely as the girl walked forward, following the crater perimeter. Sheela came beside her, catching her breath.  
‘Oh no,’ she whispered as she saw the girl Amber was watching ‘Another one.’  
‘Another what?’ Amber whispered as the rest of the girls arrived.  
‘No. LXXXVII,’ Sheela pointed to the numeral that was embedded on the girl’s shooting arm ‘I believe her name is…Fate? No, no, it was…I think it’s Destiny.’  
‘She has another Human Weapon?’ Vienna said in disbelief. There was a loud thud behind them and the girls turned to see that Sarah had fainted. Saphira poured some water over her face and Sarah blinked as she slowly woke up.  
‘I don’t want to fight another Human Weapon,’ she whimpered and clung onto Sheela ‘Don’t make me fight her, please!’  
‘Hey, hey, calm down,’ Sheela soothed and patted Sarah’s head ‘I’m not going to let you near this one. She’s much more powerful than the Diamond Bruiser.’  
‘She doesn’t look so strong,’ Amber raised an eyebrow as she carefully followed Destiny along the perimeter.  
‘Amber, she can change her body into actual weapons,’ Sheela whispered as they all followed Destiny, Sarah being a bit reluctant ‘She’ll scan you for a weakness and then produce the weapon necessary to kill you.’  
‘Scary…’ Sarah whimpered softly.  
‘Hey!’ a voice cried from a distance, making the girls freeze in their position ‘Sheela!’ Sheela turned and gasped as a figure crashed into her and hugged her tightly as they lay on the grass. Sheela blinked up at the girl in awe and recognized her bright smile.  
‘Cecilia!’ she hissed and sat up, grabbing her shoulders ‘Are you alright? You’re not hurt are you? Oh, I’m so glad you’re safe.’  
‘Of course I’m safe,’ Cecilia giggled and stood up ‘Sarah!’ Sarah stumbled as Cecilia hugged her tightly and patted her head.  
‘Careful, I’m clumsier than usual,’ she whispered and Cecilia giggled.  
‘I’m so happy to see you!’ she pulled away from the hug and clapped her hands happily ‘Are you all going to join Queen Florence?’  
‘Of course not,’ Amber snorted. Cecilia blinked in confusion then frowned.  
‘So…why are you here?’ she asked.  
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ a deeper voice came from the trees. The girls turned as a girl with black hair tied in a ponytail jumped down and placed a hand on her hip. ‘They’re here to oppose the Queen.’  
‘Iris!’ Sheela sighed in relief and ran up to her ‘Oh, thank goodness you’re safe.’ Iris raised a hand and black static energy formed in between her fingertips. Sheela was unable to stop herself and was hit by the energy ball that was shot at her. It impacted her in the stomach and she was blown back, landing heavily against a nearby tree. Amber jumped at the loud smack that had come from the impact.  
‘Sheela!’ Sarah and Cecilia cried as they rushed to her, Cecilia healing the damage up. Sheela was breathing shallow breaths as Iris mocked her with a smirk.  
‘What’s the matter, princess?’ she sneered as Sheela looked up at her in shock and horror ‘I didn’t ruin your pretty dress for your wedding now, did I?’  
‘That is the last time someone’s going to mock me in this dress!’ Sheela snarled and grimaced when she placed a hand on the bloodied patch on the dress. Cecilia’s eyes began watering with tears as she pressed her hands on the blood to draw it out of the dress.  
‘Iris, you were too hard with your magic,’ she whined and Iris sighed, shaking her head and pinched the bridge of her nose.  
‘Relax, she would have fallen unconscious and woken up two days later,’ she muttered and stormed over to them, grabbing Cecilia’s arm and dragging her back a few steps ‘Destiny!’ Saphira yelped as there was a small roar of engines above them and Destiny lowered herself in front of Iris.  
‘Iris…’ Sheela said cautiously as she got to her feet with Sarah’s help.  
‘Destiny, eliminate the intruders,’ Iris commanded and Destiny whirred to life, her left hand turning into a long white katana. Sarah ran away as fast as she could first. The other girls froze for a second in fear then split in different directions, running as fast as they humanly could. Amber’s head had turned into mush, she was solely focused in dodging obstacles in front of her and just running. It turned into a chant after a while. Run, run, run, run, run, run, Amber! Amber winced when she began feeling a stitch, due to the fact that she was out of shape cardio wise. Amber panted and gasped for breath as she dared to take a small rest by a boulder. She leaned on it and closed her eyes, panting for air and resting her aching legs. With a small yawn, Amber slumped into a seating position and thought about taking a short nap.  
‘Amber?’ Amber gasped as she opened her eyes and turned her head to see Xeann from one of the crater caves.  
‘Xeann!’ Amber breathed a sigh of relief and ran up the slope, sliding into the cave that Xeann was in. Xeann quickly scanned the area before sliding into the cave and hugging Amber.  
‘Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!’ she sighed ‘Was I really gone for a week? Oh, I’m sorry but I just can’t keep track of days without a calendar…’  
‘No, we sort of stumbled into this place by accident,’ Amber breathed as she leaned against Xeann’s chest, catching her breath.  
‘Mummy, who’s this?’ Amber yelped as she saw a strange man and jumped to her feet, fists raised to fight him. Xeann pulled her down.  
‘Don’t worry, Amber, he’s my eldest son,’ she reassured her then turned to the man ‘Cedric, this is Amber. The young girl I talked about?’  
‘Ah yes,’ Cedric smiled and offered his hand to her ‘Nice to meet you. My name is Cedric.’  
‘Amber,’ Amber nodded as she shook his hand.  
‘Amber, you mentioned the others were here?’ Xeann frowned in concern.  
‘Yeah…Sheela and Sarah’s sisters launched Destiny at us,’ Amber mumbled as she cautiously poked her head out of the cave ‘We all went our separate ways.’ Xeann sighed and turned to Cedric.  
‘Cedric, dear, do you know where I can get high enough to look for the girls?’ she asked and Cedric smiled softly.  
‘Why don’t I go and look for them for you?’ he offered ‘I’ll bring them all here. What do they look like?’  
‘Two of them turned into their tame wolf forms I think,’ Amber sighed and shrugged ‘I don’t know, we know what the Human Weapons are and we just took off. I was more focused in running away from the monster. Just look for four panicked girls that are probably running around this place.’  
‘Alright, I’ll see if I can spot them,’ Cedric nodded as he carefully crept out of the cave and looked around before crawling up the crater wall.

***

Sheela felt herself collapse from exhaustion as her weakened body finally told her to stop running and just lie down. She gasped for breath and attempted to crawl away to a more concealed place. She paused when she realised that she was in a field of pink flowers and smacked her hands to the ground on impulse. The flowers around her grew quickly and grew to about fifteen inches tall and Sheela wormed her way in between the stems, hoping that this temporary camouflage would hold up until she regained her energy again. She regulated her breathing and closed her eyes, feeling drained and sleepy. It took her a while to think about Destiny’s abilities. That scanner could detect her anywhere, but then again, it wasn’t up all the time. Sheela sighed tiredly as her head began to hurt from all the thinking and worrying about Destiny. She stilled when she heard a pair of feet land on the grass and felt herself holding her breath in terror. A shadow went over her and Sheela began shaking, her heart pounding.  
‘Excuse me, but are you hiding from Destiny?’ a man’s voice met her ears. Sheela slowly turned her head and looked up, sighing in relief when she saw a young man towering over her.  
‘Yes, I am,’ she sighed and slowly sat up ‘Oh no, you’re part of the Queen’s court aren’t you?’  
‘Not really,’ the man shrugged ‘I’m not working for her or Father anymore.’ He offered his hand to her. ‘I’m with Mummy now. Her name is Xeann, do you know her?’  
‘Xeann?’ Sheela perked up and nodded ‘Yes, yes I know her.’ She took the man’s hand and her eyes widened when she saw demonic ripped wings on his back spread out to take off. ‘You’re a demon?’  
‘Half,’ the man shrugged ‘I don’t bite, don’t worry.’ Sheela swallowed and nodded anyway as he picked her up and flew her away.

***

‘Gotta run, gotta run, gotta run!!!’ Sarah chanted under her breath as she sprinted through the forest ‘Don’t wanna get caught, don’t wanna get caught, don’t wanna get caught!!!’ She left the forest and out into a meadow, running and startling the deer that were grazing. She ran alongside them, panting and panicking inside as she didn’t dare look back to see if that Destiny weapon was following her. She did dare to look down and gasped when she saw a shadow engulfing her. ‘Faster, faster, faster!!!’ she shrieked and began running faster. She screamed at the top of her voice when someone landed in front of her and promptly fainted. Cedric blinked down at the fallen girl and bit his lip nervously. He looked around and shrugged.  
‘Oh dear,’ he said and fiddled with his fingers ‘I might have scared her. I suppose it isn’t that hard when you’re half demon.’ He bent down and picked her up gently, making sure to carry her in a secure hold. Sarah was still muttering things in a delirious state when she was unconscious, making Cedric frown in worry. He spread his wings and took off, taking poor frightened Sarah with him.

***

Saphira panted as she scampered across the frozen river in her tame wolf form. She hadn’t ever come face to face with a real life Human Weapon but the stories that she had heard terrified her enough to not even think about hanging around one if she ever found one. She had heard about the power Human Weapons possessed and she wasn’t sticking around to see how destructive this Destiny was. She panted as her claws scratched the ice with every step that she took. She reached a split within the river and resorted to running across the land instead. Her breath condensed in front of her as she scampered across the grassy plains and gasped for breath when she reached the shady forest. She lay in front of a large oak tree and yawned, resting and regaining her strength. As she lay her head on her front paws, her ears pricked up when she saw a pair of boots. She looked up slowly and saw a young man towering over her.  
‘Excuse me,’ he said ‘But are you Xeann’s friend?’  
‘I wouldn’t say we’re friends but I know her,’ Saphira said as she sat up and looked up at him ‘Why?’  
‘Oh, it’s just that I’m gathering the girls together so we can sort out how to shut down Destiny,’ the man smiled kindly ‘I’m Cedric, Xeann’s son.’  
‘Anyone can just claim to be one of Xeann’s children, she has too many of them,’ Saphira said warily. Cedric chuckled and shrugged.  
‘Well, how about you follow me to the cave and you can see her yourself?’ he offered and took off. Saphira’s nose twitched warily and she followed him cautiously back to the cave where Xeann and the others were waiting.

***

In normal circumstances, Vienna would have stayed to fight Destiny head on. But the experience of fighting the Diamond Bruiser flashed in her mind when Sheela’s sister ordered Destiny to kill them and before she knew it, she was in her tame wolf form and running for her life. Vienna was still running now, running along the perimeter and she was more than sure that Destiny was behind her. Also, the bullets being shot at her were rather big clues to the fact that the Human Weapon was hot on her trail. Vienna let out a high pitched yelp when one bullet hit her hind leg and she fell face first. She heard Destiny’s heavy footsteps closed in on her and she whined when she felt that it was a silver bullet that had hit her. As her leg began steaming, Vienna looked up with a fallen face.  
‘Target immobilized,’ she said in that eerie metallic voice and her scanner came down across her eyes ‘Proceeding quick elimination.’ Vienna whimpered and closed her eyes as she heard the guns whirring to life. She flinched when she heard a blast from the gun but didn’t feel anything. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a man standing over her with one sword directing Destiny’s gun to the sky whilst the other was pressed up against her neck.  
‘Iris,’ he said and Destiny’s eyes widened as she went stiff. The man jumped off Vienna and pulled the bullet out of her wound. Vienna whined in pain as the man picked her up, letting her leg bleed out. ‘It’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you,’ he reassured her ‘But we’d better be quick, Destiny will only be paralyzed for about ten minutes. I believe you’re Xeann’s granddaughter?’ Vienna sniffed her tears back and nodded. Cedric gave her a sympathetic smile and took off to go back to the cave before Destiny broke out of her paralysis.

***

Vienna whimpered pitifully as Xeann bandaged her leg after letting the wound bleed out for a while. Saphira sat by the entrance, vigilant and alert for any signs of Destiny. Sarah was still unconscious with a concerned Sheela placing a hand over her forehead to check if she was waking up any time soon.  
‘You said Iris’s name and Destiny just froze,’ Vienna whimpered softly to Cedric   
‘You are able to disable a Human Weapon if you recite its controller’s name,’ Cedric said with a shrug.  
‘You know complete strangers’ name yet you don’t know your own half-sister’s name?’ Xeann raised a disapproving eyebrow.  
‘Cecilia and Iris aren’t complete strangers,’ Cedric hunched his shoulders ‘I was the one who personally escorted them here.’  
‘Why?!’ Sheela shrieked at him suddenly ‘Why would you take them away from us?!’  
‘Iris and Cecilia wanted to be together without their family knowing,’ Cedric shrugged helplessly.  
‘You didn’t have the right to just take them away like that!’ Sheela shouted at him ‘They should have come out of the closet to us, we wouldn’t have minded!’  
‘I was ordered to take them here and keep an eye on them. They seemed perfectly happy here so I didn’t think it was wrong.’  
‘They were fifteen! They’re too young and immature to make decisions by themselves!’  
‘Sheela, calm down,’ Xeann said and reached out to touch Sheela’s shoulder ‘Cedric spent nearly half a century in Hell under his Father’s wing. He doesn’t quite know what is right or wrong in this world.’ Sheela took a deep breath and leaned back.  
‘So how do we shut down this Destiny, we don’t even know what her name could be,’ Vienna grunted as she pushed herself up against a cave wall.  
‘Amber, Saphira, most of the Human Weapons came from villages, you wouldn’t happen to know anyone who could have left your village in the pursuit for science?’ Xeann asked as she looked at the girls in question. The girls sighed and leaned back.  
‘It depends when these Weapons got constructed,’ Saphira shrugged as Amber shook her head uncertainly.  
‘Right…’ Xeann lay back and took a deep breath ‘I believe Zenna got converted sixty three years ago, give or take a year, and she was No. LX. It takes around about two years, according to Zenna and her family, to design, plan and create a Human weapon…Destiny is No. LXXXVII, right?’ Cedric nodded and Xeann closed her eyes and sighed. ‘I would say Destiny must have been created ten years ago. Again, give or take a year because it was when the Aurallion Army began using viruses as weapons that the scientists began increasing production of the Human Weapons, shortly after No. LXXX was deployed.’  
‘Wait, ten years ago?’ Saphira raised an eyebrow ‘I couldn’t even talk ten years ago.’  
‘Really?’ Xeann frowned ‘Now that’s a speech delay a parent should be worried about.’  
‘You have no idea how many speech therapists I went to see when I was an infant,’ Saphira huffed and folded her arms.  
‘What about you, Amber?’ Xeann turned to Amber who just shrugged.  
‘I would have been about five years old, but then again I did know most of the village people,’ she hummed and leaned her head back against the wall ‘It would take a while to remember any names.’  
‘Amber, I want you to focus solely on those who left your village,’ Xeann said slowly and Amber shrugged.  
‘It was during the war against Aurallion,’ she said ‘A lot of people were leaving to join the army against the Aurallion Army.’  
‘Names?’ Xeann shrugged and Amber sighed in exhaustion.  
‘My memory’s all foggy…’ she whined and Cedric hushed the group suddenly. Sarah woke up slowly and yawned.  
‘Hey guys, what’s up?’ she murmured and Sheela pressed a hand to her mouth with a hushing sound. Amber’s ears picked up a whirring sound and her eyes widened.  
‘Oh dear,’ she whispered.  
‘Everyone out!’ Cedric yelled and the girls shot out of the cave. Amber ducked when she heard a whir of a laser gun and a laser beam narrowly missed her head, crashing into one of the trees. Xeann turned around and put her fists up.  
‘Nan, where are your blades?’ Vienna asked with wide eyes.  
‘I lost them when we were running away from her,’ Xeann sighed ‘I had to leave my cape and utility belt behind too. I feel naked…’  
‘OK,’ Sheela said as she supported Sarah who looked like she was going to faint from fright again ‘Amber, some names would be very useful right now!’  
‘I’m thinking!’ Amber whined as Saphira turned into her feral wolf form to fight Destiny. As Saphira and Xeann charged at Destiny, Cedric took Amber to a safe spot not far away for her to think. Amber crossed her legs and began meditating whilst Cedric took his swords out and readied them in case Destiny decided to turn her sights on them. Amber thought back hard to her early childhood, trying to remember names of the people that left her village for the war.  
‘Any time soon would be nice, Amber!’ Sarah shrieked as Sheela was nearly shot by a stray bullet. Amber growled and shook her head.  
‘Umm…Susan!’ she shouted. Susan wanted to go into forensics, which was a sort of science, right? Cedric blocked the katana that came swooping down to her and pushed Destiny away, engaging a swordfight.  
‘Wrong name!’ Vienna concluded as she turned into her feral wolf form and attacked Destiny, her jaws aiming for the neck. Amber ran to a more concealed place and continued meditating to try and remember names as the girls resorted to shouting different names. She had a loud smack and turned her head to see an unconscious Saphira next to her. Biting her lip and squeezed her eyes tight and laced her fingers into her hair, gripping it and nearly ripping it out.  
‘Gloria!’ Gloria loved chemistry, she might have gone into the science career right? Oh, Amber’s memory was just too blurry to remember! She froze when the boulder behind her cracked in half and Destiny appeared behind her.  
‘Wrong again,’ she said and Amber yelped, running away as she took a swipe at her with her left hand that had been transformed to a flamethrower. Amber ran to another place that seemed safe and far enough to think. She heard a pained yelp and Vienna landed in front of her with a bleeding stomach.  
‘Hurry up, Amber!’ she panted and Amber frowned in concentration, racking her memory.  
‘Umm…uh…Bethany!’ she shouted snapping her fingers. Bethany’s family had a history in science! Her whole family left to join the military labs! …Her whole family did leave to join the military labs, right?  
‘Wrong.’ Amber yelped as Sarah’s unconscious body fell on top of Vienna’s. She ran for it as Xeann snuck up behind Destiny, muttering a name into her ear and ducking to avoid getting struck by a silver blade. Amber ran again, diving into the bushes nearby and watched Sheela being thrown aside after getting shot in the stomach by a laser gun. She resumed to meditating again and took a deep breath.  
‘Come on, come on…’ she muttered under her breath ‘Why am I thinking up of the names anyway?!’  
‘You’re the only lead we have!’ Xeann shouted as she kicked Destiny in the face, only to be grabbed and thrown into the trees. Amber growled in frustration and dug her fingers into her scalp.  
‘Lucinda!’ she suddenly exclaimed. Lucinda was into science and she left to go to work in the military labs! …Or did she go to the frontline?  
‘Wrong again.’ Amber gasped and looked up to see Destiny towering over her. She jumped up to her feet and held her fists up, her eyes wide in terror. She carefully backed away as Destiny readied a katana to kill her. Amber then gasped as she suddenly recognized Destiny’s face. But no, that person was a man, someone she had thought of as an elder brother until he left to fight against Aurallion and he never came back. Nevertheless, Amber took a deep breath.  
‘Vin…cent?’ she murmured and Destiny reacted sharply, standing back with wide alarmed eyes ‘Vincent! It’s Vincent isn’t it?!’ Destiny blinked in surprise as her hands changed back to normal and she fell to her knees, stunned. She slowly looked up at Amber, her jaw somewhat slack.  
‘Amber?’ her metallic voice said and it faded away. Her neon eyes turned dull and she fell to the floor in front of Amber. Amber took a deep sigh of relief and fell to the floor too, catching her breath. She stiffened when she heard clapping from above her.  
‘Impressive, Amber,’ a familiar voice said ‘My, what a coincidence that this Weapon was from your village.’ Amber looked up to see Florence in the tree above her, sinking her teeth into some oversized turquoise berries. She jumped down and Amber saw a large X shaped scar on Florence’s face. Amber squinted, wondering how she got it. Florence blinked and smirked. ‘Oh, do you like it?’ she asked as she fingered it thoughtfully ‘I’ve never had a prettier scar than this little thing. I should thank Xeann for inflicting it on me.’  
‘It looks rather…ugly…’ Amber commented and Florence giggled.  
‘Here, want one?’ she offered Amber one of the berries she was carrying in her arms.  
‘They’re poisoned,’ Amber said immediately and Florence just simpered.  
‘Now, why would I want to poison you?’ Florence pouted ‘You’re my guest here now. All of you are guests here. And I’m just dying with excitement to fight you!’ She pressed a berry into Amber’s hands. ‘They’re not too sweet, I would say they’re more savoury.’ Amber looked at the berry warily and took a timid bite. Florence watched with eager eyes as Amber’s eyes widened.  
‘These are good,’ she said and began taking bigger bites. Florence tittered and watched as Amber satisfied her hunger and gave her more berries to fill her stomach on.  
‘Amber, we’re soul fragments.’ Amber paused her eating, berry juice circling her lips and looked up at Florence’s suddenly solemn face.  
‘Soul fragments?’ Amber echoed and Florence smiled.  
‘There’s a theory that when we die, our souls either live another life or go to Heaven or Hell when their judgement is decided,’ she explained ‘But if a soul goes to life on another life when its judgement isn’t chosen, then sometimes it can split into more than one soul. Your soul and my soul were once one soul.’ Amber stepped back warily and raised an eyebrow.  
‘What makes you come to that conclusion?’ she asked ‘We’re in opposite categories.’  
‘Technically we’re sort of not because I’m a turned vampire sorceress so I’m a cross of categories,’ Florence shrugged, showing off her fangs for proof ‘But anyway, that doesn’t matter. You remember the first time we saw each other, Amber. Don’t you remember what you felt?’ Amber thought back but the memory was quickly relived once she looked into Florence’s glowing magenta eyes.  
‘Like I knew you and that we had something in common,’ Amber described the feeling ‘Even though I never met you before.’ Florence grinned.  
‘You get that sense of belonging don’t you?’ Florence said as her eyes lit up in excitement ‘Amber, if we can work together using my magic, then perhaps we could reconstruct this original soul! It’ll probably turn out to be some famous warrior!’  
‘Won’t that mean killing the both of us?’ Amber raised an eyebrow.  
‘Sacrifices can be beneficial to science and experiments,’ Florence shrugged and looked down at Destiny ‘Speaking of which, I might as well seal her up where we found her. You can’t really use her now that we all know how to deactivate her and it just wouldn’t be fair.’  
‘It was fair that you had her to begin with?’ Amber raised an eyebrow as Florence picked Destiny up and swung her over her shoulder. Florence turned to Amber and smiled.  
‘How about we give you a couple of weeks to restore your health and strength to its full potential?’ Florence suggested ‘Then we can fight.’ Amber clenched her fists and looked to the ground.  
‘Alright but what kind of fight?’ Amber asked ‘How serious are we going to go?’  
‘I would say our personal little battle can be to the death if you want,’ Florence shrugged ‘But I would prefer until the first one loses consciousness. If I lose, I’ll get rid of the Nightmare Blanket and release all the people who have disappeared.’  
‘And if I lose?’ Amber hunched her shoulders. Florence smirked.  
‘You join my court,’ Florence winked ‘Well, see ya.’ Amber watched Florence walk away and took a deep breath.  
‘Let the games begin, huh?’


	36. Finale

Xeann set up a strict training schedule for everyone for the next fortnight to help everyone build their strength up to go against Florence and her court. The first day was mainly focusing on everyone’s personal strengths and weaknesses, Xeann mostly hoped it would prepare the girls for their limits as none of them, aside from Amber and Sheela, have reached that point in fighting yet. Then for the next week she placed them in groups. Amber was placed with Sarah so Sarah could help her train in the martial arts. Sarah may be a bit clumsy and ridiculously unlucky but Amber found it useful to go against someone from her own category with more experience. Saphira and Vienna worked together to hone their fighting abilities in their feral werewolf forms whilst Sheela worked by herself to refresh herself on spells she couldn’t use whilst under the Nightmare Blanket.  
Xeann spent the first week training with Cedric. His fighting style was eerily similar to Nightmare’s, Xeann almost drowned poor Cedric in holy water once she gained her limit in one training session. Amber could remember one of their fights vividly. She and Sarah were focusing on different kicks to use in battle when they heard a loud crash. They looked up to see Xeann and Cedric running up the crater wall and having their battle vertically. Cedric displayed his skills in demonic magic against Xeann who had just gone into her limit form, Amber concluded that he had been the one to kill the Flaregona. Half demon or not, demonic magic was something that shouldn’t be messed with. Same went with divine magic. Everything just went blank for Xeann apparently when she heard Cedric’s laugh. It eerily matched Nightmare’s laugh so she threw some holy water right in the face. Luckily for them, Sheela had been working on conversion spells so managed to convert some holy water into satanic water to heal Cedric. Xeann then decided to change their training groups on the spot.  
So for the second week Amber fought against Sheela to practice fighting against a sorceress. Amber was very impressed with Sheela’s skill in sorcery, though the modest young woman denied that she was very good. Amber thought the training to be very useful in preparation to go against Florence who was also a mean looking sorceress. Vienna teamed up with Cedric whilst Saphira and Sarah were put together. Xeann was left to herself to focus on controlling her emotions for the battle against Horror and Nightmare.  
Two weeks went too slowly for Amber but at the same time she felt it had gone by too quickly. On the eve of the designated day of the battle, Amber found that sleep eluded her. So she got up and climbed up the crater wall to take a look at the scenery. She saw Relevein Town nearby, preparing to wake up to another day of terror and fear. Amber sincerely hoped she’d be able to defeat Florence so the Nightmare Blanket would disappear and no-one would have to suffer any more. Her eyes trailed up to the Hyacin Mountains across the wasteland and she remembered the time spent in Stiraia Village and Magia Town. Then eventually she spotted part of the mountain range that surrounded the Sol Desert, where her village was. She hugged herself and shivered. Her heart was racing like never before. She felt so nervous but she couldn’t think of a reason why.  
‘Amber? Are you feeling alright?’ Amber blinked and turned to see Xeann approaching her. The vampire smiled down at her and ruffled her hair. ‘Is there anything you’d like to tell me?’ Amber looked down and sighed.  
‘I can’t sleep,’ she mumbled and hunched her shoulders.  
‘Feeling nervous?’ Xeann sat them down, their legs dangling off the edge of the crater.   
‘Yes but I don’t know why,’ Amber pouted and folded her arms moodily. Xeann tittered lightly.  
‘Dear, everyone can feel nervous whenever something big is coming up,’ she explained and looped an arm around Amber’s shoulders ‘I was nervous myself when the day that I would kill my parents came for me.’  
‘Why did you kill your parents?’ Amber looked at Xeann ‘Didn’t you love them?’ Xeann pulled a grim face and looked ahead.  
‘Let’s save that story for another time,’ she said ‘It was sixty-one years ago after all and I can’t remember all the details.’ She smiled down at Amber. ‘Come on, you need your rest.’ Amber sighed tiredly and got up.  
‘Alright then,’ she said and let Xeann take her back down to the caves that they were resting in.

***

It was a beautiful morning for a battle. Amber and the others lined themselves up in front of Florence’s ominous looking tower. They waited for the opposition to come out. Some waited patiently, others not so patiently. Amber felt her heartbeat race in anticipation and looked at the others. Xeann, Cedric and Sheela were the only ones with calm expressions and firm stances. Sarah was clenching and unclenching her fists nervously, hopping from one foot to the other. Saphira and Vienna sheathed and unsheathed their claws impatiently, glaring at the tower. Amber jumped slightly as the iron doors creaked open. Florence came out first in her dark purple tank top, shorts and ballet slippers. Amber eyed the dark purple claws she wielded on her hands warily. Xeann and Cedric straightened their spines when Nightmare and Horror made an appearance. Saphira growled under her breath as Cody came out with a grim face. Sarah went stiff whilst Sheela sighed softly as Iris and Cecilia came out after Lavender took her place next to Florence. Lavender stepped forward and cleared her throat.  
‘The main aim is to knock out your opponent rather than killing them,’ she said as Amber cracked her knuckles in anticipation when she locked eyes with Florence ‘Hopefully the battles will be over by the end of the day. If not, then we continue into the night. Forfeiting the battle will result as a loss.’  
‘Are you ready, Amber?’ Florence asked as she blew some imaginary dust off her claws. Amber held her fists up in front of her and began bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her eyes were burning with determination, her heart was pumping her body with blood that burned eagerly, telling Amber to fight Florence and go on to find her family so her life could go back to normal.  
‘Let’s go!’ she cried and ran towards Florence.  
‘Now that’s what I’m talking about!’ Florence grinned widely, the sun making her teeth shine, and charged towards Amber with a fierce battle cry, their wrists hitting against each other once they met in the middle of the meadow.   
Amber glared fiercely at Florence whilst the others around them engaged in their individual battles and swung a kick into Florence’s stomach. Florence intercepted it and twisted Amber’s arm around, making the poor girl flip and land on her back heavily.  
‘Oopsie daisy!’ she giggled as Amber groaned in pain and growled at her in contempt. Amber quickly jumped to her feet and punched Florence in the chest.

***

Xeann and Cedric charged next towards Nightmare and Horror. Nightmare idly stood still whilst Horror took up his sword and charged towards them. His blade collided with Cedric’s and the two engaged themselves in a staring contest.  
‘I am stronger than you,’ Horror sung as he pushed against Cedric.  
‘Oh yeah?’ Horror roared in pain as Xeann dug one of her blades into his stomach. ‘We are smarter than you,’ she sung in the same tone, making Horror grin at her.  
‘That’s my little birdie!’ he said and picked her up, spinning her above his head. Nightmare cackled from his place and applauded the performance. 

***

Saphira and Cody morphed into their feral wolf forms the moment Amber and Florence had clashed. Saphira lunged for Cody’s neck and yelped when Cody hit her in the side and sent her flying to the crater wall. She landed heavily, snorting and shaking her head. She let out an angered snarl as Cody stood still and watched her recover.  
‘Saphira, I don’t want to do this,’ Cody said as he walked over to her.  
‘Oh grow a pair, this is supposed to be a battle!’ Saphira snarled at him in contempt. Cody blinked and shrugged.  
‘As you wish.’ Saphira looked up in alarm as dark clouds formed above the crater. It flashed with lightning and Saphira scrambled up to her feet quickly. The temperature dropped and Saphira smirked as a surge of power flowed through her. The winds began blowing and snow and hail descended from the sky rapidly. Saphira used the elements to create a small vortex to attack Cody. Cody’s golden fur sparked with energy as he sent thunderbolts to rain down on her. Saphira threw her hands up immediately and formed a thick ice barrier to shelter her from his attacks. She folded her arms and sniffed.  
‘You’re going to have to do better than that,’ she sneered and Cody smirked. He held up his hands and formed an electric shield around him. He folded his arms and sniffed in a similar manner.  
‘You’re going to have to do better than that too,’ he said and Saphira snarled.  
‘You copied me!’ she howled ‘That’s plagiarism!’

***

‘Iris, I don’t want to do this,’ Cecilia mumbled as she clutched onto Iris’s arm.  
‘Trust me, I know what I’m doing,’ Iris smiled down at her and kissed her forehead ‘I’ll take care of the both of them first and you jump in when I need your help, OK?’ Cecilia still looked uncertain as Iris stepped forward, black magic sparking around her hands. Sheela sighed softly.  
‘Iris, it doesn’t have to be like this,’ she said and Iris smirked.  
‘No, it doesn’t,’ she agreed ‘So why don’t you join the court? Queen Florence said she offered you a place but you rejected it.’  
‘I fight for freedom,’ Sheela said as anger flashed in her eyes ‘Iris, if you come back home with us, we’ll understand the relationship you’ve chosen with Cecilia. We won’t judge you.’ Sarah nodded her head in agreement, making Cecilia look up at them hopefully. Iris, however, snarled and shot dark energy at Sheela. Sheela blocked it with a powerful barrier spell and Sarah ran forward, punching Iris in the stomach. Cecilia covered her mouth in horror as Iris recoiled and scowled at them.  
‘You’re going to regret that!’ she shouted as one fist lit up with dark energy crackling around it. She swung it at Sarah’s face. Sarah grabbed it on quick reflex and stared Iris down. Iris blinked in confusion and gasped as a beam of blue light was fired at them. Sarah swerved her head out of the way and Iris brought up a small dark shield which blocked the attack but pushed her back a couple of feet. Sarah brought her fists up.  
‘Come at me, sis,’ she said in a deadly serious tone.

***

Vienna tried to jump in to help Amber fight Florence but Lavender landed in front of her and grabbed her by the scruff. With a small smile, she dragged them to an open space in the meadow. Vienna yelped as she landed on her back heavily but scrambled up to her feet, gnashing her teeth at Lavender menacingly.  
‘Looks like we’re going to be fighting together,’ Lavender shrugged as golden energy engulfed her body ‘Please, don’t take this too personally.’ Vienna jumped back and morphed into her feral wolf form. She towered over Lavender menacingly who just looked up at her coolly. Then with an innocent giggle, she ascended into the air so she at eye level with Vienna. She then punched Vienna straight in the eye with a golden fist. Vienna howled and stumbled back, her eye crackling with golden energy. Lavender smirked and her hands glowed gold, ready to attack again. Vienna ran towards her, the earth shaking with every step she took.

***

The snow and hail hit both brawlers as they fought hand to hand. Amber ducked and dodged as Florence swung her clothes to try and stab her. Her face was already marred by some scratches that Florence’s claws had scraped onto her. Xeann had warned her beforehand about what the claws did once they came in contact with her skin. So the illusions of seeing her dead family didn’t faze her so much to let her guard down. This impressed Florence, encouraging her to attack in a more frenzied style. Amber was getting fed up of blocking and dodging Florence’s menacing claws and was getting so frustrated that Florence left so little openings and opportunities for her to strike back without getting injured. With gritted teeth, she narrowed her eyes and risked swinging a punch into Florence’s face. Florence snatched the fist with a hand and giggled.  
‘That’s just too cute,’ she simpered as Amber’s eyes narrowed in concentration. Amber swung a kick at her but fell over once Florence let go of her fist and twirled out of the way with the elegance of a prima donna. When Amber got back to her feet, Florence did a curtsey. Amber found her deftness just as annoying too.   
‘You can’t stay still can you?’ she asked as she brought her fists up again and Florence just cackled. Amber took a deep breath and focused solely on Florence who pirouetted tauntingly to show off her skills and elegance. Florence gasped in surprise as Amber rushed forward with a new surge of power and her fist impacted her stomach harshly. She stumbled backwards in shock and Amber pulled herself back into a neutral stance. Florence smirked and her body glowed a blue aura. Amber stepped back warily as Florence’s attire changed from dark purple to neon blue and purple. She came out in a neon blue breast plate and neon purple metal plated trousers. Her claws had turned sky blue and her ballet slippers had been replaced by neon blue boots. She rushed forward towards Amber and struck her in the belly, sending the poor girl flying into the crater wall. She clapped gleefully as she heard a resounding smack.  
‘Score one for the Queen of Nightmares!’ she cackled and stretched her arms out with a satisfied smile. Amber twitched as she lay in the small dent that she had created in the crater and began to feel light. Florence perked up when she saw Amber’s body glow white and brought her claws up as she began rushing towards her. A silver thin blade clashed with her sky blue claws and Florence’s eyes widened in excitement as she gazed up at Amber’s amber eyes through her newly acquired visor.

***

Xeann was in her limit form already when she finally reached Nightmare to attack him. Nightmare stepped to the side and pushed her over with little difficulty. He laughed loudly, mocking her.  
‘Oh, dear, dearie,’ he grinned ‘Looks like I’m just too strong for you! Why don’t you just give up now?’ He yowled as he felt something burn his calf and jumped away from Xeann turning on the spot. Xeann had swiped her sword which had its edges glowing light blue to show the holy water had been drawn out. Xeann got to her feet and readied her blades for a fight.  
‘Fight like a man,’ she challenged. Nightmare threw his head back and cackled shrilly as the battle between Cedric and Horror continued behind him.  
‘But I’m not a man,’ he shrugged ‘And what if I don’t want to be a man? What if I just want to be a demon like I’ve always been?’  
‘I don’t fight cowards,’ Xeann snarled then suddenly smirked ‘How about we have a little bet?’  
‘Oh, oh! I love bets!’ Nightmare clasped his hands together gleefully ‘I’m listening, dearie.’  
‘How about you fight me and if you win…’ Xeann sighed heavily, already regretting her decision. ‘You may do as you wish with me.’  
‘Yahoo!!!’ Nightmare pulled his sword out and charged towards Xeann who intercepted the attack and they began duelling ‘You’d better be prepared, dearie! I don’t go easy on people who make bets with me!’  
‘Yeah?’ Xeann grunted as she pressed her sword against Nightmare’s with all her strength ‘Well same here!’  
She swung a punch at Nightmare but Nightmare kicked her stomach before she could touch him. She stumbled back and managed to intercept the next blow that was coming for her.

***

Saphira and Cody were knee-deep in snow as they clawed, bit and scratched at each other. Saphira sported more bites than Cody but it didn’t deter her from lunging and attacking more. Cody jumped back for a small break and caught his breath, looking down at Saphira. He chuckled loudly and Saphira raised an eyebrow.  
‘What’s so funny?’ she growled.  
‘It’s just so cute, you look like a giant blue fuzzy fuzz ball,’ Cody snorted in amusement and Saphira growled, frantically combing her fur down so she could get rid of some of the static electricity that Cody’s thunderbolts had transferred into her. Saphira glowered at him and let out an ear-splitting howl. Her whole arm lit up in a white aura and Saphira felt her paw grip ice. Her arm came out of the light to show it had been encased in an ice armour. Spikes sprouted from the shoulder part of the armour and across the knuckles. Saphira gave Cody a sly smirk and the blonde wolf shrugged, lunging for her. He let out a yelp when Saphira stepped forward and landed a blow right in the stomach, sending him flying into the tower, causing it to shake.  
‘That’s for calling me a giant blue fuzzy fuzz ball,’ she muttered ‘Idiot.’ She yelped when a sudden thunderbolt landed near her and snarled as Cody landed on the ground after peeling himself off the tower. His body let out a golden aura and his whole arm was encased in golden armour that crackled with electricity. They both let out their individual howls and ran at each other, Cody tackling Saphira into the crater wall.

***

Iris grunted in pain as she was pushed back by another one of Sheela’s well-aimed and powerful spell. She gasped for breath as Sarah hopped from foot to the other, ready for another attack if Iris was still up for some more fighting. She felt frustrated, she didn’t think Sheela was this powerful. And Sarah was such a klutz, where did this sudden amount of power come from? Iris looked to Cecilia and held her hand out for her. Cecilia seemed reluctant and took Iris’s hand and Sheela perked up.  
‘What are you doing?’ she asked slowly and stepped back warily. Iris just smirked as her body glowed a dark purple aura. Sarah stepped back as Cecilia’s body glowed white and Sheela’s eyes widened.  
‘Sheela…’ Sarah said fearfully and Sheela began chanting a quick powerful barrier spell. Their sisters soon began just light and darkness which rushed to them quickly. They collided against Sheela’s barrier and Sheela stumbled at the force of their attack, her arms straining to keep the barrier up. Sarah yelped as the barrier cracked and Sheela let out a scream of agony as Cecilia and Iris burst through and engulfed them. Cecilia and Iris circled them for a minute or two before retreating, retaining their bodily forms as they landed. Sarah and Sheela lay lifeless on the ground and Cecilia shrieked.  
‘We killed them!’ she screamed and Iris just kissed her temple, shaking her head.  
‘Nah, we just knocked them into a coma,’ she reassured her ‘They’ll wake up in a couple of days. But for now, I say we’ve won.’ Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement and snapped her head back to them. Sheela slowly pushed herself up to her feet and swaggered unsteadily, gasping for breath.  
‘If we weren’t preparing for this battle for the last two weeks, I would have most certainly have been in a coma,’ she rasped and closed her eyes, lacing her fingers together in a small prayer. The girls shielded their eyes as Sheela emitted a bright silver glow. Sheela opened her eyes as she stepped out of the glow in a silver dress, that somewhat resembled Siegfried’s mother’s wedding dress, which reflected the girls’ reflections. She raised her hands, that had their nails coated in silver, and began shooting spells at them again. Iris pulled up a quick barrier spell to deflect them then shot a ball of dark energy towards Sheela. Sheela stepped back as the energy ball entered her dress then shot itself back at Iris which hit her square in the face. Cecilia let out another shriek as Iris collapsed onto her back.  
‘Iris!’ she began crying and knelt down to her sister.  
‘Cecilia, I think this is where we draw the line,’ Sheela said as she walked over to her ‘Let’s talk. I sense that you’re uncomfortable.’ Cecilia looked up at Sheela uncertainly and sat down with her to discuss her relationship.

***

Lavender was using levitation spells to keep herself off the ground so Vienna’s elemental powers were useless. Vienna kept on getting more and more frustrated as she jumped and tried to claw Lavender down. However, Lavender would always just be out of reach, smirking down at her.  
‘Getting tired down there?’ she asked and Vienna snapped at her with a loud snarl ‘Oh go on then, tire yourself out. I’m not particularly interested in fighting.’  
‘Get down here now so I can maul you!’ Vienna snarled up at her menacingly ‘This isn’t a fair fight if I can’t even touch you!’ Lavender just tittered and imitated shooting her with a pistol with her hand. Small golden circles shot out from the tip of her index finger and clamped down on Vienna’s muzzle to prevent her from talking any more. Vienna mumbled in frustration and paced around, trying to get them off.   
‘There, that should keep you busy for a while,’ Lavender smiled and looked up when she heard a loud roar. Vienna froze and looked up when she heard the roar too and tucked her tail in between her legs as her eyes wandered to where Amber was fighting Florence.

***

Amber and Florence were lunging and attacking each other like feral werewolves battling over the last scrap of meat. Amber found it easier to land blows onto Florence now that her visor was helping her pinpoint Florence’s weak spots and Florence’s armour was slowing her down. Florence would strike her whenever she got too close and the nightmares seemed to be more graphic with these new set of claws. Once, Amber felt that she really was back in her village and she had killed her own mother. When she realised it was a nightmare, she got more furious with her attacks. As Amber fought, she noticed the different scars decorating Florence’s body. Some looked really nasty, Amber wondered what kind of battles Florence had gotten herself into.  
‘You’re so impressive with a sword, Amber,’ Florence praised as her claws fought against the silver rapier Amber wielded ‘I’ve never had a challenger like you. I like you, you’re so persistent!’ Amber lowered her rapier slightly, putting Florence off balance and swung a high kick into her neck, sending the young sorceress tumbling down the slope. She slid down after her and thrust her rapier into Florence’s exposed stomach. Florence grunted in pain and Amber gripped her shoulder, leaning into her ear.  
‘Game, set and match,’ she whispered. Florence spat blood onto the ground and looked up at Amber with a grin.  
‘I don’t think so,’ she whispered back and pushed Amber away. Amber stumbled as Florence’s body grew black whilst the sky turned from blue to red. Amber began walking backwards away from Florence as her body swelled and grew. Her eyes gleamed magenta and wings pushed themselves out of her back. Her claws swelled with her hands, turning into talons while scales replaced her pale skin. Amber’s body left the ground when Florence landed with a heavy thud and looked up at the transformation. There stood a mighty dragon, standing tall and triumphant. Its scales were dark green like Florence’s hair and its bright magenta eyes stood out, staring down at Amber who was feeling considerably smaller than ever before.  
‘She…can turn…into a dragon…’ she whispered as Florence snorted amusedly at her ‘Who knew…?’   
She yelped when Florence roared loudly and ran up the crater wall so she could at least fight at a higher level. Florence’s large spiked tail lunged for her and tried to hit her as she scaled the crater wall. Amber managed to avoid any serious damage, getting a small scrape up her rapier wielding arm. Florence eventually gave up using her tail and shot light green fire at Amber instead. Amber took shelter underneath her massive shield and evened her breath as she felt the heat of the flames. Florence roared again and Amber’s eyes widened as her talons pierced her shield. She immediately detached the shield from her arm and climbed further up the crater wall. Florence flicked the shield off her talons and growled under her breath as she watched Amber climb up the crater wall and roared, pulling one claw back and slammed it into Amber, pushing her against the wall. Amber’s roar of pain echoed throughout the crater.  
Xeann’s eyes widened as she heard Amber’s scream whilst fighting against Nightmare. She looked up at where she was and grunted as Nightmare pushed his sword harder against hers. Cecilia and Sheela looked up in horror as they saw small streams of blood leaving Amber’s body. Saphira floored Cody and looked up with wide eyes as she saw Amber’s state. Vienna could only watched silently with tears brimming her eyes. Suddenly, the bonds that kept her silent snapped.  
‘Don’t give up, Amber!’ she howled.   
Amber barely heard Vienna’s howl in her pained daze. She saw Florence’s bright magenta eyes, looking down at her as she lay still, impaled by the three massive talons. She felt like giving up, dying and leaving the world. The pain was just too much. How could she possibly go on like this?  
‘Amber, hang in there!’ she heard Xeann scream.  
Amber didn’t want to hang onto the little life her body possessed any more. She wanted to stop fighting, it seemed pointless. Dragons were just too strong for the likes of her, she should just die quietly. Amber grimaced as she felt the claws dig in deeper. Dragons were sacred beings anyway, she shouldn’t be fighting them.  
‘Amber, remember what you’re fighting for!’ she heard Sheela cry.  
Amber’s eyes widened as she remembered Jasper’s face. He was waiting for her to come back and take him home. She remembered her mother, waiting to be taken back home too. And her father, she remembered her father is still out there, somewhere. She had to find him. They were waiting for her. They were all waiting for her. And the only obstacle to get to them was Florence.  
‘We believe in you, Amber!’ she heard Saphira’s howl.  
Amber couldn’t just give up now, she had to fight! She had to fight! Dragon or no dragon, Florence was going down! The very woman who tore her family apart and sent the whole world into a miserable state! Amber grunted as she slowly raised a hand and gripped one of Florence’s talons that dug into her body.  
‘You can do it, Amber!’  
Amber pulled Florence’s talon out of her body and roared her loudest war cry she had ever roared. Florence stumbled back as her whole body burned a bright shade of amber. Everyone stopped, even Nightmare and Horror, and watched as Amber’s glowing body lifted itself up and ascended into the air. Florence’s wings spread out and she flew up towards Amber.   
Amber opened her eyes and gasped silently as she saw that she was floating up and up into the air. Had she died? Was she going to Heaven? No, she wasn’t. She stopped eventually and Amber saw Florence flying up towards her. Her whole body was encased in a soothing warm amber aura. To the people who watched from the crater, the aura around Amber took the form of a phoenix. Amber watched as Florence reached the same level as her and spread her arms out. The phoenix around her spread its wings and cawed loudly. Florence roared back at the beautiful creature and grinned. Amber felt her body move by itself and she took off, charging towards Florence as the phoenix screeched loudly. Florence opened her maws and let out a stream of light green flames that collided with the phoenix’s burning aura. Amber felt herself travelling through the flames and gasped as she tumbled into Florence’s gaping mouth and down her throat.

***

Amber groaned as she woke up, sitting up and stretching her body out. She gasped as she floated off whatever she was lying on and looked around, eyes widening when she saw green flames and a ribcage over her.  
‘I’m actually inside a dragon?’ she whispered.  
‘Nice of you to drop in.’ Amber turned her head sharply and saw Florence standing a few feet away from her. She offered a warm smile and Amber pulled her fists up. ‘Lower your guard, I just wish to speak with you.’ Amber still kept her fists up and Florence giggled. ‘Your final limit is quite something,’ she complimented and ran her fingers up and down the side of the dragon belly ‘I would really appreciate it if you joined my court.’  
‘No,’ Amber said defiantly ‘I refuse to join your court. I am fighting to restore balance back to Ethylias and have it the way it was before. We don’t need you as our Queen and we don’t need demons running about as your henchmen, making sure everyone is following your laws!’ Florence put on a solemn face and approached Amber.  
‘We could be an unstoppable force, you and I,’ she said and held Amber’s fists, lowering them down ‘We could unlock all the secrets of the universe together. Maybe find other worlds and conquer them like we’ve conquered Ethylias. Amber, think of all the boundaries that have held you back, we’ll be able to surpass those boundaries!’ Amber stared hard into her bright magenta eyes and pulled away.  
‘I said no!’ she shouted, her voice echoing in the dragon. Florence’s face fell and she stepped back, green flames engulfing her. Amber was thrown out of the dragon’s body, spiralling into darkness.

***

‘Florence!’ Lavender cried out as Florence let out a pained roar, her whole body going up into flames.  
‘Amber!’ Xeann shrieked as she saw the phoenix disappear and Amber’s body fell ‘Cedric, catch her!’ Cedric nodded once and took off, his wings sprouting out from his back.   
‘Time to go,’ Nightmare sung as he and Horror began running off. Xeann turned to them and snarled.  
‘Oh no, you don’t!’ In a quick burst of energy, she released her wings from her armour and swooped in front of their paths. She brought her fist back and released all her frustration and fury into a single punch that impacted Nightmare straight in the jaw. Nightmare fell over backwards and Horror gave a sexy wolf whistle.  
‘Damn, that was hot,’ he grinned and Xeann would have readied a second punch towards him if she hadn’t been so drained. Nightmare clicked his jaw back into place and grinned up at her.  
‘Let’s get together some time,’ he winked suggestively and disappeared in a flurry of blue flames before Xeann could kick his smile off. Xeann snarled at him in contempt as Horror disappeared in a flurry of orange flames.  
‘Cowards,’ she muttered and fell to one knee ‘The both of you! Fight me and…give Bella back…’ She fainted and fell forwards, her armour disappearing back to the shadows.

***

‘Amber!’ Sheela cried as she and the other girls that were conscious circled Cedric as he landed. She let out a horrified gasp as she saw the large wounds across Amber’s torso. ‘No…Cecilia! I need your help!’ Cecilia scrambled over and Sheela grabbed her hands. They stood over Amber and began chanting a joint healing ritual. Everyone else backed away from them as they chanted under their breaths and formed a light green circle around themselves with Amber. Amber’s minor wounds from the battle with Florence began fading away slowly but she didn’t show any signs of waking up.  
Cody watched as Saphira shrunk back to her human form, shaking her limit form away. He watched as she hugged Vienna close to her, watching Amber getting healed by Sheela and Cecilia. He turned his head over to Lavender who knelt by the pile of ashes that had been Florence. With a whimper, he padded over to her in his tame wolf form, after shaking away his limit power away, and nuzzled her to comfort her. He braced himself as Lavender raised her hand then wagged his tail happily when she hugged him close to her.  
‘I told her to not do it,’ she whispered into his ear ‘But she didn’t listen. Nightmare had already tricked her into having her body used to carry her child. She wasn’t turning back from anything. I could have noticed her struggles earlier…’ She cried into his fur and Cody licked her cheek, whining and pawing at her leg. Cody looked up when he saw a shadow and saw Saphira and Cedric standing over them.  
‘Miss Lavender,’ Cedric addressed Lavender ‘Where’s Miss Florence’s child?’ Lavender looked up at him and stood up, wiping her eyes. She took a moment to compose herself and breathed softly, looking up at him with a brave smile.  
‘In her room, I’ll go and get her,’ she said and went into the tower. Cody turned into his human form and looked up at Saphira.  
‘Saph…’ He yelped as Saphira tackled him into a hug and clung onto him tightly, not wanting to let go.  
‘We did it, we won,’ she whispered ‘Now you’re going to have to come home!’ Cody smiled and hugged her back.  
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. Saphira smirked and buried her face into his neck.  
‘Idiot.’  
Sheela and Cecilia took deep breaths when the healing ritual was over. Cecilia fell to a sitting position, panting heavily whilst Sheela collapsed.   
‘Sheela!’ Cecilia cried and Sheela looked up at her with a warm smile.  
‘I’m OK,’ she said and giggled ‘I can’t believe I’m using Sarah’s catchphrase.’ Cecilia paused and smiled back at her.  
‘Did it work?’ she asked as she looked at Amber’s sleeping form and Sheela nodded.  
‘She just needs some rest,’ she whispered as her limit form faded away ‘Like me…’ She promptly fell asleep as Vienna nosed Amber curiously in her tame wolf form.

***

Evening fell and everyone huddled themselves around a large fire. Xeann rested next to Cedric, drinking the Golju Berry juice Cecilia made to speed up her recovery time. Saphira, Cody and Vienna had morphed into their tame wolf forms and bunched altogether in a big pile of fur. Iris and Cecilia slept, Iris embracing Cecilia tightly. Sheela smiled warmly at them as she carefully patched up Sarah’s bruises. Sarah yawned tiredly, half asleep but kept waking up whenever she heard Amber moan. Sheela looked at Amber sadly and sighed.  
‘I hope she wakes up soon,’ she muttered. Cedric sat up as he heard footsteps and saw Lavender approach them.  
‘Miss Lavender?’ he frowned as Lavender sighed and sat down next to him.  
‘She’s gone, Nightmare must have taken her away,’ she sighed and Cedric bowed his head.  
‘Ah.’ Xeann grimaced and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she whispered ‘I’m sure Nightmare has plenty of half demon children in Hell.’ Cedric slouched and Xeann turned to Lavender. ‘I’m curious, what was the child’s name?’  
‘Forget-Me-Not Amber Serenity Fox,’ Lavender recited the child’s full name. Xeann blinked and chuckled.  
‘Forget-Me-Not?’ she snickered ‘An unfortunate name.’  
‘I think it’s a lovely name,’ Sheela frowned and Lavender nodded in agreement.  
‘Still, it doesn’t matter now,’ Lavender sighed and lay down on the grass ‘She’s long gone now and all the demons have unusual names in Hell anyway. She’ll fit right in.’  
‘I feel sorry for her,’ Cedric muttered as he bowed his head ‘Her mother is dead and her father is going to treat her like dirt.’  
‘What has happened has happened, Cedric,’ Xeann placed a hand on his shoulder ‘There’s nothing we can do now. Unless you know how to get to Hell.’  
‘Half demons can’t open the gates,’ Cedric shrugged helplessly ‘I can’t follow Father and Uncle Horror down there, even if I wanted to. You have to be created by Lucifer himself to open the gates of Hell.’ Xeann sighed in disappointment and shook her head.  
‘How’s Amber?’ Sarah asked Sheela who sighed helplessly.  
‘Still in a coma. She could be like that for years considering the power she displayed.’  
‘I’m surprised such a fragile body could sustain that much power and not get killed by it,’ Lavender raised an eyebrow. Everyone fell silent as Amber lay still on the grass bed made for her.


	37. Family Reunited

‘Hurry up, Jasper! The coconuts are going to be gone by the time we get there!’  
‘You’re running too fast, Amber!’ Amber blinked as she watched her younger self with Jasper run towards the oasis and chased them. She paused and watched herself climb the coconut tree like a monkey and grabbed the coconuts, throwing them down to the children that were playing in the oasis. Amber took her time to look around at the village, from the harpy children tussling around with the minotaur children to the sorcerers and merchants haggling over prices at market stalls. Amber felt herself smile a small smile, the feeling of nostalgia crawling over her.  
‘Amber!’ her mother’s voice called from a distance ‘Remember to save some for me so I can bake that coconut cake you love so much!’  
‘I know, I know!’ her younger self called back ‘Make sure you bake an extra big one this time, OK?’  
‘Amber, you could easily kill someone with coconuts!’ her father’s voice called from another distance.  
‘Really?’  
‘Yes, really, a lot of people die accidental deaths because a coconut has fallen and landed on their head.’ Amber giggled to herself and watched herself climb down with a basket of coconuts and run back home. Amber sighed as she looked at her surroundings more carefully. This was exactly the day before the Nightmare Blanket was released. Her fourteenth birthday. It seemed so long ago and Amber felt so different just looking at her fourteen year old self.  
‘Sorry about that, little one,’ Amber blinked and turned around when she heard a distant yet familiar voice ‘At least you are unharmed. I suppose that is the main concern instead of your health after all. Here, let me just get that for you…’  
‘Xeann?’ Amber whispered and looked around for the vampire. She gasped when she thought she saw Xeann’s cloak but then realised that it was just someone else passing through the village.  
‘Saphira,’ Saphira’s voice echoed in her head next ‘Who are you?’ Amber looked around with a confused frown as she failed to spot Saphira within the crowds. She gasped when she saw blue hair then frown when she saw a boy instead of a girl.  
‘Uh…hi,’ the next voice said ‘my name’s Sarah, what’s yours?’  
‘Sarah? Where are you guys?’ Amber asked as she continued spinning around.  
‘Sarah!’ Amber turned her head sharply when she heard Sheela.  
‘How do you know that?’ Amber turned her head again when she heard Vienna’s voice. The voices began growing louder and echoing in Amber’s head that she tried to drown them out by covering her ears. Her head began ringing from all the voices speaking to her and she screwed her eyes tight.   
‘Wake up.’ Amber opened her eyes when she heard a small whisper caress her ear.  
‘Hey, Amber, please wake up.’ But wasn’t she already awake? Amber felt her surroundings melt away into darkness and felt herself being suspended in mid-air.  
‘Come on, Amber. You’re going to have to wake up sooner or later.’  
‘It’s cruel, we’re all worried for you!’  
Amber slowly opened her eyes.

***

‘Ow…’ Amber whined as she opened one eye and pain blasted through her head so she closed it again.  
‘Ah!’ she heard Saphira speak ‘She’s awake!’ Amber opened her other eye and placed a hand on her other eye to massage the pain out of it.  
‘Amber, are you alright?’ Amber heard Sheela ask as her shadow covered her face.  
‘My eye…’ Amber whispered and tried to sit up.  
‘Hush, now,’ Xeann’s voice came up next and Amber felt hands pull her back into a lying position. Amber’s hand was taken away from her right eye. Sheela carefully pried it open and Amber groaned in pain and struggled against her. Sarah and Vienna held her down as Sheela’s hand glowed green over Amber’s eye. Finally, Sheela released Amber’s eye and Amber squeezed it shut, rolling onto her side and curling up into a tight protective ball.  
‘Amber, I’m very sorry I missed it,’ Sheela sighed ‘Your right eye has lost its sight.’  
‘It’s alright, Sheela,’ Xeann reassured her as Amber’s head echoed the last sentence ‘Final limits do have their price.’  
‘I’m…blind…?’ Amber echoed.  
‘No, sweetie, you’re half blind,’ Xeann comforted her and slowly pulled her up to a sitting position ‘We’ll just bandage it up and maybe we can get a bionic eye installed when we get you home…’  
‘Here,’ Amber heard an unfamiliar voice. Amber stayed still and opened her left eye to watch Sheela and Lavender bandage the right side of her face. Memories slowly came back to Amber and she began looking around for Florence.  
‘What happened to Florence?’ she asked softly and Lavender tensed, glaring into space.  
‘Amber, you absolutely annihilated her!’ Vienna said and waved her arms to emphasise her point. Amber widened her eye in shock.  
‘I killed her?’ she whispered and stared at Lavender ‘But how? I…I didn’t mean to…’  
‘No-one means to do anything when they’re in their final limit,’ Lavender sighed ‘I forgive you. It was Florence’s fault that got her into this mess. I suppose she had it coming…’ She covered her face and began sobbing quietly. Cody whimpered and hugged her from behind. He tensed when Saphira growled at him.  
‘Hey, I’ll hug you when your sister dies,’ he retorted and Saphira whined.  
‘But I’m your cousin…’ she mumbled.  
‘So is it over? Is the Nightmare Blanket’s gone?’ Amber’s questioning statement made the group fall silent.   
‘Not exactly,’ Lavender wiped her tears away and leaned on Cody’s shoulder ‘Florence died so she couldn’t take it down. And the only other people who know how to take it down are Nightmare and Horror.’  
‘And they did a runner as soon as Florence died,’ Xeann grumbled under her breath and Amber’s face fell.  
‘So…we can’t get rid of it?’ she whispered and Lavender shook her head.  
‘To…compensate for what our actions have done,’ she murmured whilst circling her finger around Cody’s hand ‘I’ll try and contact Florence’s Guardian Angel who tried to stop her from going down Nightmare’s path of darkness. Hopefully I’ll be able to work with him to make something that should balance out the Nightmare Blanket’s effects on the world. Though it might not be as powerful, it’s something.’  
‘You watch how you’re touching Cody, you hussy,’ Saphira snarled as she glared at Lavender.  
‘Saphira, chill,’ Cody sighed as Lavender glowered at Saphira.  
‘I’m not a hussy,’ she said sternly and Saphira snarled louder.  
‘Then get your filthy hands off my cousin,’ she growled.  
‘Alright, alright, calm down,’ Xeann soothed and placed her hand on Saphira’s shoulder.  
‘I propose we leave now,’ Cedric said quickly and stood up ‘We’re not going to get anything done just sitting around.’  
‘I agree,’ Sheela said just as quickly and stood up, supporting Sarah.  
‘But where do we go now?’ Vienna asked with a frown as Cedric helped Xeann up to her feet.  
‘Well with Florence dead,’ Lavender squeezed Cody’s arm for comfort as Cody helped her up ‘Her curse would have gone away so all the people who have disappeared should have reappeared now.’  
‘Wait, so people like my father are…I can find him now?’ Amber perked up hopefully. Lavender nodded and Vienna began running off.  
‘Mom, Dad, here I come!’ she shouted at the top of her voice.  
‘Hey, you don’t even know where you’re going!’ Cedric called after her as the others ran after her.

***

Amber was being helped along by Saphira as they were led through the caves by Cedric who was helping Xeann along. Despite her intake of blood and Golju Berry juice to speed up her recovery time, Xeann still had a small limp from the fight against Nightmare. Sarah was still a little shaken up from the attack Iris and Cecilia had launched upon her so needed Sheela’s help walking. Lavender, Cody, Cecilia and Iris were fine walking by themselves.   
‘Ah, light!’ Saphira said as they reached the end of the cave.  
‘Wait…’ Xeann perked up. Everyone shielded their eyes as they stepped out of the cave and heard lots of people muttering and speaking. Amber slowly opened her eye and gasped as she saw Relevein Town flooded with people looking up at the sky and pointing to it. Amber looked up and her eye winced when she felt…natural sunlight?  
‘It’s gone?’ Lavender whispered as the group burst into mutters of confusion and awe. Amber perked up as she heard a loud roar and looked around, her eye glittering happily.  
‘The dragons are back!’ she cried and everyone looked up to see a massive wave of dragons flying across the sky. Amber smiled warmly as she saw the different types of dragons fly by, roaring loudly to announce their return. Saphira smiled softly.  
‘I’m so glad they’re back,’ she whispered ‘This better not be a dream.’  
‘It’s not,’ Sheela sighed happily and smiled ‘It’s not a dream, it’s real.’  
‘Lavender!’ Lavender turned her head and widened her eyes when she saw a woman with long blue hair, a man with long shaggy green hair, a young thirteen year old girl with curly silver hair and a little eleven year old boy with similar shaggy green hair to the man.  
‘Mother!’ she cried and ran over to them, hugging the woman with blue hair whilst the younger girl hugged onto her leg.  
‘Girls, over here!’ Sheela snapped her head to another direction and gasped.  
‘Father!’ she cried and Sarah and Cecilia suddenly took off. They both tackled a man with shoulder length blue hair to the ground whilst Sheela discretely wondered how Sarah recovered so quickly. Iris looked over and saw who the man was with and grimaced softly. Sheela smirked and as she took off and hugged her mother tightly.  
‘Sheela,’ a young man about her age with unruly black hair approached her and Sheela hugged him tightly.  
‘Oh, Sebastian,’ she sighed tiredly and leaned her head on his shoulder ‘I’m so relieved that you’re all OK…’   
‘I’m also glad to see you unharmed,’ Sebastian muttered back and leaned his head on hers ‘But I must ask, who are you getting married to?’ Sheela thumped him hard on the shoulder. Amber smiled softly and let Saphira go to support herself. As soon as she let the young werewolf go, Saphira and Cody shot off towards a group of people nearby.  
‘Saphira!’  
‘Cody!’  
‘Victoria, Teresa!’  
‘Mommy!’  
Amber giggled as Cody embraced a taller woman with black hair and glasses whilst Saphira hugged two girls about her age that shared the same face as her. Cody was crying and whimpering as his mother soothed him, hugging him and kissing his head to comfort him, to tell him that everything was alright now.  
‘Vienna!’  
‘Mom, Dad!’ Vienna howled as she ran to a couple who stood not far away. Xeann smiled and asked for Cedric to walk her over. Vienna tackled the man of the couple, whose lilac hair matched hers, while the woman of the couple hugged Xeann tightly, tears streaming out of her blood red eyes.  
‘Jasper!’ Amber suddenly caught sight of her little brother and half ran half limped over to him. Jasper gasped as she hugged him tightly and hugged back.  
‘Amber, what happened to you? Where’s the Nightmare Blanket? What’s going on?!’ he shouted over the crowd noise.  
‘It’s gone, the Nightmare Blanket is gone,’ Amber smiled ‘I did it! I killed the Queen!’  
‘You what?!’ Jasper yelped and Amber grimaced.  
‘It was an accident,’ she said in a childish tone and Jasper’s eyes widened ‘No seriously, I didn’t mean to kill her.’  
‘Who are all these people?’ Jasper clung onto her fearfully as he looked up at all the adults.  
‘All my friends’ families,’ Amber grimaced ‘I don’t think Father’s here. Let’s go home.’ Jasper nodded and Amber took his hand, slowly limping out of the village to start the long journey back to the Nameless Village. Perhaps they could stop and rest with Siegfried. He wouldn’t have the materials to get a bionic eye installed in her though. That was going to be one expensive operation considering everyone’s going to try and pick themselves up from the calamities…  
‘Wait, there he is!’ Jasper pointed behind them. Amber froze and looked down at Jasper.  
‘Don’t play games with me…’  
‘No, really! He’s there, he’s there! Look, Amber, look!’ Amber turned sharply on her heel and her breath caught in her throat as she saw a tall lanky man with snowy white hair. ‘Father! Father! Father, over here!’ Amber’s eye brimmed with tears as the man turned his head and turned around fully to face them. She would recognize those burning orange eyes anywhere.  
‘Father!’ she called and began crying as she and Jasper took off and launched themselves in his arms. Abarine Caelum embraced his children tightly and hugged Amber closer to him.  
‘I’m so proud of you,’ he whispered and Amber sobbed more, hugging him as tightly as she possibly could.  
‘Mother!’ Jasper cried out suddenly and Amber looked up with a disbelieving look. Crystal Caelum smiled warmly as she approached them from her long journey across the rocky wasteland, dressed in one of Xeann’s borrowed blue cloaks and a tattered white dress with some patchwork decorating the middle of the skirt. She pulled her hood back and Amber cried out more as she saw her mother’s face.  
‘Mother!’ she held her arms out for her and Abarine picked her up, carrying her over to her. Crystal took Amber off him and hugged her tightly with a sigh, tears brimming in her own jade green eyes.  
‘Oh how I’ve missed you,’ she whispered as Amber buried her nose into her silver hair. Jasper hugged Crystal’s leg as Abarine embraced Crystal tightly, kissing her passionately. Amber sniffed and sighed. She looked up at her parents and smiled to herself as she saw them together.  
‘I want to go home now,’ she whispered and closed her eye to drift off to a world of dreams.


	38. Five Years Later

Amber woke up as soon as she heard the early merchants set up their market stalls outside of her house. She smelt the smells of bread and other pastries being freshly baked and taken out of the ovens in the house opposite hers, ready to sell. She lay still in the quiet house, staring up at the ceiling blankly with her left eye. It took a few minutes until her bionic right eye whirred to life and she opened it so she could stare at the ceiling with both eyes.   
Kicking the covers off, Amber got up and walked over to her chest of drawers. After getting dressed, Amber stood in front of the mirror and brushed her hair that she had grown out to her waist. She stared at her reflection thoughtfully. Her body showed no more signs of her as a child, she was now an adult. After tying her hair into a ponytail, Amber pulled down the collar of her shirt, grimacing at the sight of the massive scar embedded into her shoulder. Well, some things hadn’t changed within the past five years. Amber turned around and lifted her hair to look at the black phoenix inked into the back of her neck. On her eighteenth birthday, Amber insisted that she’d get a tattoo so she’d have a signature mark as an assassin. Plus it looked cool and to show off her final limit powers, she asked for it to be a phoenix. All she needed now was to come up with a title but her father dismissed the idea, saying that it was too amateurish for an apprentice of his. She giggled to herself and walked downstairs.  
As she made pancakes, she could hear Jasper’s breathing and smiled to herself. He was still growing up and he was more mature than her. But why couldn’t he at least step out and say hello to the neighbours at least? Amber shrugged to herself and hummed lightly, flipping the pancakes on the stove. Her eyes drifted to the window and she sighed when she saw empty wine bottles stacked neatly in a line. She walked over and picked them up, chucking them in the recycling bin. At least her father’s habits hadn’t changed.   
Speaking of which, Amber’s ears picked up her parents’ breathing next to Jasper’s room and wrinkled her nose when she smelt the sweat and alcohol coming from their bedroom.  
‘Seriously, an air freshener is all I ask of them,’ she grumbled under her breath as she dished the pancakes out onto four plates.  
Amber left three plates of pancakes on the small circular dining table and quickly rolled hers into a roll which she could wolf down easier. She wiped her mouth and left her plate in the sink. She grabbed her utility belt and clicked it around her waist as she walked out.  
‘Morning, Amber!’  
‘Good morning, Amber!’  
‘How are you today, Amber?’  
Amber jumped at the multiple greetings she received once she stepped out of the house. Everyone who was out early in the morning stared at her with warm smiles which she awkwardly returned back.  
‘Morning,’ she replied and everyone returned to their own business. She sighed quietly and made her way down the street. Every day she forgot how much of a celebrity she had become in her village. Her phone began ringing and Amber fished it out of its holder, taking a moment to determine which button to press to answer it then held it up to her ear.  
‘Argh! Amber, you’re so slow!’ Saphira’s voice came out and Amber giggled.  
‘Sorry, I’m still getting used to having a phone on me…’ she mumbled and Saphira giggled as she walked down the street.  
‘Hey, you going to go to Vienna’s birthday party?’ Saphira asked and Amber nodded.  
‘Yeah but I’m not sure what to give her,’ she sighed and stopped by a flower stall ‘Saphira, you’re a werewolf. What do I give to a werewolf who’s going to turn eighteen?’  
‘You do know she’s half vampire so it wouldn’t really matter that much,’ Saphira reminded her.  
‘I don’t know,’ Amber sighed as she picked out two bouquets from the flower stall ‘What does Vienna like doing?’  
‘Well she’s been into video games for a while now…’  
‘Hn, looks like I’ll have to go to Renita City to buy her a present then,’ Amber clicked her tongue as she gave the lady the money for the bouquets, ignoring the discount the lady had offered her, took the bouquets and began walking further down the street ‘My village is just barely keeping up with this new technology.’  
‘Hey, it’s harder for my village! We basically live in an area that electricity can’t survive in.’  
‘Yes,’ Amber smiled ‘I suppose that’s true.’  
‘Oh did you hear the good news?’ Saphira asked and Amber heard plates clattering, concluding that Saphira was washing up.  
‘Um…Xeann is pregnant again?’ Amber hazarded a guess. Saphira laughed loudly and Amber laughed with her. ‘Really? Damn, that woman just can’t take a break can she?’  
‘She says that she considers the Nightmare Blanket incident a break,’ Saphira giggled ‘She’s thinking it might be triplets this time.’  
‘Good lord,’ Amber whistled as she went outside the village.  
‘Hey, Sheela managed to get a job over in Magia Town,’ Saphira said as Amber heard the splashing of melted snow being used as water ‘She’s working as a part time teacher in the school.’  
‘Oh, good for her,’ Amber grinned as she stood outside the graveyard.  
‘And, listen to this, Sarah suspects that she has a boyfriend!’ Amber gasped loudly and froze.  
‘Seriously?’ she asked with wide eyes and Saphira giggled ‘Really?! Who?!’  
‘Sheela won’t say apparently,’ Saphira sighed ‘But Sarah’s been saying that she’s been acting less stressed lately and she’s been getting presents.’  
‘Aw, it sounds like she’s so much in love,’ Amber giggled and Saphira giggled with her ‘Oh, speaking of which, how is Sarah doing?’  
‘She’s ‘OK’,’ Amber smirked as she imagined Saphira doing quotation marks ‘Did you know she’s set up a small air travel service?’  
‘Oh dear,’ Amber said and Saphira laughed.  
‘It’s doing fine actually! Sarah is much more careful now! She might expand to owning two planes and hiring another pilot.’  
‘Wow, it seems like so long ago since we were all in that plane to go to the floating islands,’ Amber sighed and Saphira groaned.  
‘I still get airsick just by thinking about that,’ she muttered moodily and Amber heard the background noises of her sisters ‘Sorry, Amber. Teresa wants the phone to call her boyfriend.’  
‘Alright, call again soon,’ Amber smiled and pulled the phone away from her ear. She hesitated, looking at all the numbers on the keypad before pressing the one that would disconnect her from Saphira’s phone.   
She placed the phone back into its holder and walked into the graveyard. She came to two gravestones and placed the bouquets beside them.  
‘Hey, you two, it’s me again,’ she smiled and sat down in front of them ‘It’s been five years since I killed Florence. It feels weird, I feel like it was just yesterday.’ She giggled and brought her knees up to her chest. ‘I can barely feel my bionic eye,’ she continued talking ‘I feel like I should feel like a robot but I don’t. It’s so strange.’ Her bionic eye glanced at the open grave that was still empty and Amber grimaced. ‘You’d think they’d fill it in after I came back,’ she sighed to herself ‘Still, it doesn’t have my name on it anymore.’ She stood up, paid her last respects and walked out of the graveyard with a glum look.  
Her legs took her to the oasis where she climbed up one of the palm trees. She smiled warmly as she placed a hand on the coconuts and pulled two off the tree.  
‘Excuse me!’ a young voice shouted out from below her ‘Can I have a coconut please?’ Amber looked down and smiled when she saw a girl of five years old standing beneath her.  
‘Of course,’ she said and picked a third coconut off. She jumped off the palm tree and landed in the oasis with a loud splash. The young girl watched as she surfaced and swam over to the bank with the coconuts, handing her one. The girl grinned widely at her and Amber couldn’t shake off the shiver that shot down her spine.  
‘Thank you!’ she said happily and Amber took a look at her bright magenta eyes and dark blue hair.  
‘Forget-Me-Not!’ a familiar voice struck Amber like lightning. Amber slowly looked up slowly as the girl ran off towards a hooded figure.   
‘I got a coconut!’ she said as she waved it over her head ‘I want my coconut milk now!’  
‘Yes, yes,’ the woman chuckled as she took the coconut away from the girl ‘Let’s go home and crack it open, shall we?’  
‘Yay!’ The hooded woman looked up at Amber and Amber froze when she saw bright magenta eyes gleam from underneath the hood. She smiled and waved at Amber then walked with the little girl down the streets, disappearing into the forming crowds around the market area.  
‘No way…’ Amber rasped as she stood still, staring ahead in shock. She didn’t hear the greetings other people called to her as they walked past her. Amber didn’t take any notice of the sorcerers, the hybrids or the vampires that walked past her. She just stared ahead silently, as if she’d been trapped in a nightmare.


End file.
